


Survival

by GretchenMaurice



Category: Wicked - All Media Types
Genre: F/F, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-09
Updated: 2015-08-15
Packaged: 2018-03-22 02:26:24
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 70
Words: 176,992
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3711367
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GretchenMaurice/pseuds/GretchenMaurice
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Elphaba just wants to live her dream of studying at Shiz. Galinda just wants to be the most beloved girl at the school. Meanwhile, terrible things are happening in Oz, starting with the Animals. Their lives are about to change, but how are the girls going to deal with the rest of the world if they can't even survive each other? Eventual Gelphie.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This (and all my other fics) are originally on ff.net, but I figured I'd post it here, too. If I get enough feedback I might move everything over here. Who knows. (Let's hear it for being an indecisive amateur writer!)  
> Anyway, this is my first multi-chapter fic, and it's gotten to be so much more than I ever imagined. Hope you enjoy!

Galinda Upland woke slowly, snuggling deeper into her lacy pillows and pink comforter. Her Ama would be knocking on the door soon, bringing her tea and telling her that breakfast was almost ready. Soon she would be dressed in one of her many expensive, fashionable outfits, and she would start yet another day in the life of sweet, beautiful, privileged Galinda Upland. The thought made her smile, but for now she was content to just cuddle into her giant, fluffy bed and drift back to sleep.

But this wasn’t her giant, fluffy bed. A small weight settled in her chest as she remembered that she wasn’t in Frottica, and she most certainly wasn’t in her luxurious bedroom. No, this room was much smaller. And it was shared with the most vile, cruel, _green_ thing she had ever met. Galinda sighed. This, she remembered, was Shiz.

The blonde girl opened her eyes and stared out the window, her back facing her roommate’s bed. It was a Monday morning, her first day of classes at the university. Judging by the light, she still had plenty of time to get ready. For a moment, she just stayed in bed, listening for any movement from the other side of the room. When she heard nothing, she rolled over.

Her roommate’s bed was jammed into the corner of the room farthest from the window, though Galinda had no idea why. Perhaps the green freak hated sunlight. Yes, that would be just like her. The mattress itself was garbed in dark sheets and pillows—it was simply impossible to tell if they were green or navy or black—and had only one thin, woolen blanket. Although they had been here for only one weekend, the covers were already wrinkled, not to mention littered with books of various sizes. But despite all this horror, only one thing stood out to Galinda. The bed was empty.

A grin spread across the blonde’s face as she leapt from her own bed. Life at Shiz may not have had the best start, but that would all change now. She had worked too hard to get to the university to let anything stop her from succeeding. Her parents had wanted to marry her off as soon as she turned eighteen, and all of Frottica—Oz, most of the Gillikin—had expected her to oblige. But she had wanted to attend Shiz, instead. Sorcery had always fascinated her, and she wanted to become more than just another housewife. If she could learn magic, then she could get married and still do anything she wanted. It had taken a long time to persuade her parents, but the rich blonde could be surprisingly stubborn. She had shocked everyone by making it into Shiz. Despite all the odds, she was here, and not only was she going to become a sorceress, but she was going to be the prettiest, most popular girl on campus as well. And nothing, not even a green roommate, was going to ruin that.

In fact, she might even be able to use the situation to her advantage. Galinda paused for a moment, staring at her reflection as she carefully dabbed on some powder. She remembered very clearly the looks of sympathy everyone had given her when she was paired with Elphaba Thropp. Well, most of them had been sympathetic. The green freak herself had simply looked horrified, and Madame Morrible had merely glanced at her with contempt. Why the headmistress already disliked her was a mystery, but she shrugged it off. It was just another obstacle to overcome.

But if her classmates were as appalled by the green girl as they originally seemed, then maybe rising to the top of the social ranks would be easy. After all, everybody loved a martyr. Galinda smiled again, thinking of what everyone would say. _Poor, sweet Galinda, stuck with that awful Elphaba girl. Why, she doesn’t deserve that horror!_

Oh yes, things at Shiz were indeed going to get better from here.

 

***

 

Galinda saw no sign of her roommate that morning, which was just fine by her. She made her way to the café near Crage Hall, smoothing her hands over her soft pink dress and straightening the white belt that wrapped around her waist. No sooner had she walked through the door that heard her name being called out.

“Miss Galinda! Oh, Miss Galinda, over here!” Three girls sat at a table, each wearing stylish dresses and appropriate amounts of makeup. They were average compared to Galinda, of course, but pretty nonetheless. Galinda beamed at them as she made her way over.

“Why, Miss Pfannee!” she said, recognizing one of the girls from move in day. “How are you?”

“Simply wonderful, Miss Galinda. May I introduce you to Misses Milla and Shenshen?” The girls all shook hands and exchanged pleasantries as Galinda sat down.

“Miss Galinda, we’re dying to know,” Milla started, leaning in. “What’s it like rooming with that…that…”

“That awful green thing?” Galinda offered. “Even worse than you can imagine.”

“ _Do_ tell us,” Pfannee said, grinning. Galinda puffed her chest up and did her best to look like a victim.

“Why, she’s terrible! Everything she owns is ancient—her clothes, her bed sheets, even the books she reads! She has no sense of style, of course, and her verdigris is simply nauseating.”

The other girls patted her hands, nodding seriously. The blonde went on, soaking up the attention. “But none of that would be so awful if she was a decent person. Do you know what I mean?”

“I can only imagine what kind of behavior a _green_ person would exhibit,” Pfannee said, her nose in the air.

“Oh, she must be a horrendous soul,” Milla all but squealed.

“Pardon me,” a voice said. The four girls jumped as they saw Elphaba approaching. Galinda felt the blood rising to her cheeks.

“I thought I told you not to speak to me,” she said hotly.

A smirk tugged at the dark green lips. “My apologies, _Miss_ Galinda. But I figured since you were already talking _about_ me, then it was okay.”

“You know, it’s bad manners to just barge into a conversation,” Pfannee said, glaring at the green girl. “And eavesdropping is even worse.”

“I’m sorry, have we met?” Elphaba asked, her voice dripping with sickening sweetness. “I’m Elphaba. And you are?”

“Miss Pfannee, and I—”

“Pleased to meet you, Miss Pfannee.” The green girl grabbed Pfannee’s hand and shook it, grinning at the horrified look on the rich girls’ faces. “Now, all pleasantries aside, I must ask you to keep all mention of me out of your oversized mouth. Gossiping is bad manners, you know. Or are the rules different for those who _bought_ their way into high society?”

Pfannee opened her mouth, but no coherent response came forth. Elphaba laughed—a monstrous cackle that made the hairs on Galinda’s arms stand up. “Don’t hurt yourself now, Miss Pfannee,” she said. “I’m sure we’ll see each other later. If you come up with a response by then, do share.” With that, the green girl left their table and wandered out of the café. Pfannee glared at her retreating back, her mouth still open as her fists clenched the edge of the table.

“Miss Pfannee, people are beginning to stare,” Miss Shenshen whispered.

“Sweet Lurline, she _is_ awful,” Milla said quietly.

“Indeed,” Galinda said miserably. “That is what I have to live with.”

Milla and Shenshen turned toward her, their faces full of sympathy, but Pfannee cut them off.

“No one should have to live with such a wicked creature!” she hissed. “Miss Galinda, I think something must be done to put Miss Elphaba in her place.”

Galinda could almost feel the color leaving her cheeks. “Miss Pfannee, I wouldn’t dare! While I agree with you, I must remind you that _I’m_ the one who shares a room with her, and therefore _I’d_ be the one to face whatever reaction she has!”

“She’s right, Pfannee. I certainly wouldn’t want to face the green bean’s wrath alone,” Milla said.

“But still,” Shenshen mused, “Surely there’s something we can do. Something harmless, just to let her know that she doesn’t own this place.”

Galinda hesitated. “I’m still not sure that’s necessary. I mean, all the students fear her anyway…”

“That’s it!” Pfannee said. She leaned in close, beckoning the others to do the same. “What worse punishment is there than social exile? We’ll make sure she never has a friend at Shiz. Why, with Miss Galinda as our girl on the inside, I’m sure we’ll have all the dirt on her needed to make some wonderful rumors!”

All four girls grinned. “Why, Miss Pfannee, you’re simply brilliant!” Milla exclaimed.

Shenshen nodded. “A plan as awful as its target!”

“Oh, that mean green thing will regret the day she decided to come to Shiz!” Galinda squealed, bouncing up and down in her seat.

Pfannee leaned back, looking quite pleased with herself. “So that’s settled. We can start right away. The café’s mostly empty—we can tell everyone in our classes how she followed Miss Galinda to breakfast and eavesdropped on her conversations. By the way, where are you ladies headed to first? I have life sciences.”

“Life sciences for me as well,” Shenshen answered, grabbing her bag.

“Me too!” Galinda clapped her hands together.

Milla gasped as she pulled out her schedule. “Oh, that’s my first class too!”

“Ladies,” Galinda said as they all stood. “I believe this is the start to a beautiful friendship.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (I'm slowly getting chapters posted. It might be a while. Sorry guys.)

“But then I saw her standing there—just standing there, listening in on our conversation! And I said, as gently as I could of course, ‘Miss Elphaba, it’s rude to eavesdrop on others.’ And you know what she did?” The group crowded around them all stepped closer, eager to hear the rest of the story. “She grabbed my hand, no doubt trying to spread some sort of horrible disease, and just laughed at me!” Pfannee finished with a huff.

The four girls were sitting on a cluster of benches near the center of campus. To their delight, they had yet to have a class alone. After life sciences, Pfannee and Shenshen had gone to mathematics while Galinda and Milla went together to Ozian Literature. The girls had spent the morning twisting the tale of what happened at breakfast, and that was exactly what they were doing just then. Their classmates huddled around them excitedly, drinking in the gossip of Shiz’s resident vegetable.

“The nerve!” a girl exclaimed.

“What a terrible green thing she is,” another said.

Everyone was nodding in agreement, but one Munchkin boy spoke up. “But…why was she there in the first place?”

“Why, I’m sure we don’t know,” Milla said.

“But if you ask me,” Pfannee said, her voice dropping, “She was following Miss Galinda here.”

“Following her?”

“Why in Oz?”

“Well, they’re roommates, are they not?” Shenshen answered the sudden burst. “No doubt she was planning some sort of torment.”

“She’s been awful all weekend long,” Galinda added, sticking her bottom lip out in a slight pout. At once, the boys all reached forward to comfort her. Pfannee scowled a bit at that, but no one else noticed.

“Following you? Are you sure?” the Munchkin boy said.

“Are you trying to defend her, Boq?” another boy asked.

“I’m just saying she can’t be _that_ bad.”

“Why not?” one of the girls countered. “ _I_ heard that her green skin is a result of some terrible sin her parents committed.”

“Parents?” one boy laughed. “Are you sure she didn’t just pop into existence one day?”

“I bet that’s what her parents wish!”

“Can you imagine having a _green_ child?” Galinda said, her voice hushed with horror. But then she saw someone walking up the sidewalk towards the group, her nose buried in a book—a very green someone, in fact. Galinda grinned and raised her voice so that it carried across the courtyard. “I can only imagine how ashamed her parents are. Perhaps that’s why she’s at Shiz. Anyone in their right mind would send such a hideous child away as soon as possible.”

Elphaba did not look up from her book, but her shoulders tensed and her knuckles lightened as she gripped the cover harder.

“Oh, the horror they must have felt! I bet the midwives fainted when they saw her come out!”

“I’m surprised her father didn’t throw her in the well the minute she was born!”

The others had seen Elphaba now, and while they didn’t address her, it was obvious she was meant to hear them. Still, she made no reaction. She didn’t even pick up her pace. She just kept walking by them, never tearing her gaze away from her book. Despite it, though, Galinda leaned back, knowing that she had won this time.

 

***

 

Her victory was not to last.

By the end of the day, every student at Shiz was talking about the horror that was Elphaba Thropp. Whispers followed her around campus as her peers spoke to each other behind their hands. Elphaba had to roll her eyes at that—as if they had any idea how to be inconspicuous. But it didn’t matter; she was used to whispers. If her classmates wanted to get to her, they would have to try harder than that. So the green girl went through the day without reacting to a single person.

Her roommate, however, was a different story.

Oh, that Galinda Upland had stepped over the line. It was one thing to insult the green girl, but when someone delved into her personal life…well, that was when things got complicated. Elphaba was sure that the blonde didn’t know what she was talking about. After all, she had probably been spoiled and pampered from the day she was born. Her comments only came from her ignorance. But still, those comments had turned an entire school against her. It’s not that Elphaba had expected to have any friends at Shiz. But was it too much to ask to be left alone? Apparently so, because thanks to her roommate, she was public enemy number one.

Well. Maybe Galinda Upland, rich blonde socialite, could win over an entire school. But Elphaba Thropp, iron-willed green genius, had subtler ways of revenge.

“Here you go, dear—Ozwald’s Sticking Solution. Let me guess, you’re decorating your dorm room?”

Elphaba hid her grin as she paid the old woman at the counter—not that it would have mattered; the woman was nearly blind anyway. It was the only reason she was being polite to Elphaba, of course. “Yes ma’am. You could say my roommate and I are having some…trouble…with setting the place up.”

“Well this’ll do the trick. And it doesn’t even leave a trace, so you needn’t worry about your Madame Head getting onto you for vandalism.”

“Brilliant. Thank you.” Elphaba left the campus book store quickly, slipping the jar of glue into her bag. When she returned to Crage Hall, her room was empty. Galinda must have been out with her friends, no doubt coming up with the next rumor to spread. Elphaba briefly considered starting her plan now, but she shook her head. She didn’t know when her roommate would be back, and besides, the surprise would be so much sweeter in the morning.

So the green girl set her bag on her desk and pulled out her most recent book: _Ozian Evolution: When History and Genetics Intertwine_. Her first history class wasn’t until Wednesday, but she was already looking forward to it. The professor, Dr. Dillamond, had been one of the greatest minds in Oz for years—not to mention one of the most outspoken Animal rights activists. She had read all of his books and papers that she could get her hands on. He was part of what had driven her to attend Shiz in the first place.

She settled onto her bed and curled up, leaning her back against the corner where the walls met. She wasn’t sure why she always took up so little space. Perhaps it was because her sister, Nessa, couldn’t stretch out. Or maybe it was the fact that she had spent a good amount of her childhood wishing she could just disappear. Whatever the reason, it worked for her. She was tall but thin, and she could easily fold herself up and bury her nose in a book. So that’s exactly what she did.

The sun was setting and the room was getting darker when a noise dragged her out of the text. Although the green girl didn’t look up, she could see out of the corner of her eyes as Galinda entered the room.

“Good evening, Miss Elphaba,” the blonde said sweetly. Elphaba’s eyes never left the pages of her book. She knew from experience that her silence unnerved people just as much as her verdigris.

Still, she had to give Galinda credit. She was much more resilient than most. She bounced around the room, setting her purse on her desk and turning to her wardrobe to pick out the next day’s outfit. That, or she was just too dimwitted to realize she was being ignored. After a few moments of silence, the blonde started humming to herself. Elphaba barely noticed, drifting back into the pages of wars and decrees carried out centuries ago.

Galinda pulled out a cream-colored dress and hung it on the door to her wardrobe. Her pale blue hair clip would look lovely with that color, and _ooh,_ she had a pair of blue heels to match. She hummed absentmindedly as she pulled out the shoes. It was too quiet in the room. If her presence weren’t so sickening, Galinda could almost forget that the green freak was there.

Almost, but not quite.

The silence deepened as Galinda stepped back from her outfit. She smiled to herself, but it didn’t last long. Finally, she crossed her arms and looked at her roommate.

Elphaba heard the huff, but she just kept reading. Another sigh, louder this time. But no, it wasn’t time yet. Without looking up, she turned the page.

Galinda sank onto her own bed, her frustration building. “Miss Elphaba.”

Elphaba bit back her smirk, instead settling on tilting her head slightly toward the blonde and raising an eyebrow.

“What in Oz are you doing that’s _oh_ so important?”

“Reading,” Elphaba said calmly, looking back to her book.

“Is that all you ever do?”

“Miss Galinda, I thought you told me not to speak to you,” the green girl replied, her eyes never leaving the pages.

“I…” Galinda faltered. “Are you not going to pick out clothes for tomorrow?”

“Hm…No, I believe I’ll go to class stark naked tomorrow.”

“Miss Elphaba!” Galinda gasped, her cheeks tinged with red.

Now a smirk tugged at the dark green lips. “Unless, of course, you’ve taken a keen interest in my outfits?”

Galinda stuttered for a moment before responding. “I—you—don’t flatter yourself!”

“Well, then, mind your own business.” And with that, Elphaba went back to her book. Still, fuming, Galinda jumped up from the bed and stormed into the bathroom, slamming the door behind her. “Slamming the door is quite unbecoming, Miss Galinda,” she called, chuckling when she heard her roommate muttering angrily.

“Don’t worry, Miss Galinda,” the green girl said quietly. “Our fun is only just beginning.”

When the blonde came out of the bathroom, she seemed to have calmed down. Elphaba risked a glance at her. She had changed into a nightgown, but—Oz, was she still wearing makeup? Why? The green girl shook her head. She would never understand the female population.

Galinda settled herself in front of her mirror and began brushing through her hair, enjoying the way the golden curls shone in the dim light of the lamp that hung between the beds. She loved this part of the day, where she could just sit and admire how that specific color of blush made her eyes shine, and how the scent of her flowery soap still lingered from her bath, and how…

Her roommate walked out of the bathroom, pulling her hair back into its usual braid. A sudden, horrible thought occurred to Galinda, and she spun around to face her. “Miss Elphaba, aren’t you going to wash up?”

“What do you think I was just doing?” the green girl asked, rolling her eyes.

“I didn’t hear the water running.”

Elphaba rolled her eyes again, but this time she drew the motion out, searching desperately for a reply. “Strange,” she said, forcing her voice to remain steady. “Are you really that self-absorbed to not notice anything around you?” There. That was a good enough excuse.

Galinda huffed and returned to her reflection. Letting out a quiet sigh, Elphaba pulled back her dark sheets and leaned against her pillows, picking up her book once again. That had been too close. She didn’t need to give Galinda or her friends any ammunition against her.

The room was silent for a while as both girls immersed themselves in their own activities. Galinda did her best to ignore her roommate’s presence as she readied for bed. She almost managed it, too, until one slight problem appeared.

“Miss Elphaba, would you mind putting out the light?”

“Yes, I would mind, actually. How kind of you to ask.”

“I’m trying to fall asleep, here.”

“Well then, I recommend you stop talking.” Elphaba could practically feel the glare Galinda was giving her. She faced the blonde. It was amusing, really, how angry such a tiny person could be. Elphaba let out a laugh. “Dirty looks will get you nowhere, Miss Galinda. And besides, you wouldn’t want to mess up your pretty face, now would you?”

Galinda shuddered at her roommate’s laugh—that hideous cackle. “You terrible thing!” she said hotly. “In all my life, I’ve never met someone so…so monstrous!”

“What tipped you off?” Elphaba chuckled. “The green skin? Or was it my razor sharp wit?”

Galinda scowled. “Are you going to put the light out or not?”

“Nope.”

With a tiny, frustrated squeal, the blonde turned away from her roommate. Elphaba laughed softly. “You could always pull the blanket over your head.”

“Good _night_ , Miss Elphaba.”

_Oh, it most certainly will be,_ the green girl thought, a wicked grin spreading across her face.

It wasn’t long before Galinda’s breathing evened out. Slowly, Elphaba reached over and put out the lamp. She didn’t know how long she lay there, listening to her roommate sleeping, but not once did she feel tired. Instead, an excited energy buzzed through her. When she was sure the blonde was out for good, she slid out of bed and went to her desk. She dug around in her bag for a moment before her fingers closed around the jar.

For a moment, she considered just going back to bed and letting the whole thing go. It was just a bit of gossip and really, she was completely used to that. But then again, if she didn’t put up a fight now, everyone would walk all over her. She had to show them right away that she was not to be messed with. Nodding slightly to herself, she pulled out the jar and held it close to her face, struggling to read the label in the darkness.

_Ozwald’s Sticking Solution: Just paint this clear glue on a possession of your choosing, and it’s guaranteed to stick to the next thing it comes in contact with! Warning: Mixing with oils will negate the effects of—_

Perfect. It didn’t have to be permanent. Of course, Galinda wouldn’t know that…

Elphaba couldn’t hide the grin that spread across her face as she unscrewed the lid.


	3. Chapter 3

Galinda was delighted to find her roommate gone the next morning. Of course, it unnerved her to think that the vegetable was roaming around while she was asleep, but still. It was better than having to put up with her while she got ready for the day.

Speaking of getting ready. Galinda hopped out of bed as she remembered the dress she had picked out. She was going to look just lovely today. Simply—

The blonde paused, her hand on the dress. Why wasn’t it coming off the door? She tugged on the fabric again, but still it clung to the wardrobe. Galinda let go, afraid she would rip it if she tried again. Oh well. She could still wear the blue heels.

But those were stuck to the floor, and now Galinda was starting to get really upset. With a cry, she grabbed the right shoe with both hands and yanked on it, trying to free it from the floor. There was a sharp _crack_ and she fell backward, landing on the ground. The blonde gasped. Most of the shoe was in her hand…but the heel had broken off, still stuck to the floor. Tears filled her eyes as her fingers clenched around the ruined shoe.

“Elphaba!”

But of course the green girl was gone.

Suddenly terrified, Galinda jumped up and dashed to the bathroom. All of her things _seemed_ to be untouched. She reached a shaky hand out and grabbed a bottle of perfume. It stuck to the counter. Crying out in horror, she tried to pick up her powder. It didn’t move. Neither did her shadows or blushes or any of the rest of her belongings. Sniffling, she sat back on the edge of the tub.

“What in Oz am I supposed to do now?” she asked herself, her voice thick with misery. Just then, she caught sight of her hairbrush. With a gasp, she darted forward and grabbed the brush. It came up in her hand. She squealed and hugged it to her chest, feeling that all was not quite lost.

After she had dressed—luckily, the rest of her wardrobe had been left untouched—Galinda hesitated, her hand on the door. Her roommate couldn’t get away with this. Being a martyr was all good and fine, but she wasn’t about to leave herself defenseless because of it. So she set down her purse and ran to Elphaba’s desk. She opened the drawer and dug carefully through it, trying not to move the contents around too much. Papers, broken pens, some sealing wax…there! Galinda pulled out the jar and read the label. Sticking solution, huh? Well, that could work both ways.

Giggling to herself, the blonde opened the jar and grabbed the one of the books that lay on the desk. _Let’s see how much the green bean reads now_.

 

***

 

Galinda’s small act of revenge had cheered her up, but that didn’t stop her from mourning her shoe. Apparently the loss was clear on her face, because her friends immediately asked her what was wrong when she sat next to them at breakfast. This time, though, Galinda took the time to look around the café before she spoke, making sure it was free of all green customers.

“It was _her_ , of course,” Galinda told her friends. “She sabotaged my belongings.”

“Sabotaged?” Shenshen’s hand covered her mouth. “How?”

“Sticking solution,” Galinda said sadly. “She _glued_ my dress to the wardrobe, all my perfume and makeup is stuck to the counter, and my…my shoes were glued to the floor.”

“Were?” Milla asked.

“I…I tried to pull one of them up and it…snapped.” All three girls gasped, their eyes widening. Galinda nodded, looking down at the table.

“What did you do?” Pfannee asked.

“I found the glue in her desk and used it on one of her books, of course.”

“Oh, that’ll teach that green bean from messing with other people’s stuff!” Milla said indignantly.

“You have to tell someone!” Shenshen said, still staring at Galinda in horror.

“No.” Pfannee’s eyes were glinting. “We have to tell _everyone_.”

 

***

 

More whispers followed Elphaba around that day. Despite herself, she perked her ears up to listen to a few of them.

_Heard she used glue…A devilish trick…While she was sleeping…Her outfit was ruined…Poor Miss Galinda…_

“Poor Miss Galinda,” the green girl muttered to herself. “She just doesn’t know what she’s getting herself into.”

The rest of the day passed uneventfully. To her extreme annoyance, the three girls that hung around Galinda showed up in her physics class. They all scowled at the sight of her, even though she was sitting in the back corner.

“I can hear you,” she grumbled under her breath as the girls started whispering about her.

Finally, her last class of the day was released. She sped back up to her room, hoping that the blonde took her time before coming back to Crage Hall for the evening. The green girl hurried into her bathroom and grabbed one of her gentler oils, the kind she used on her hair. She picked up a towel and dabbed some of the oil on it, then went around and cleaned the glue off all of her roommate’s possessions. Her plan had worked wonderfully. Honestly, there was no harm done—except for that one shoe, but it was Galinda’s fault for yanking on the dumb thing. She had even left the hairbrush untouched. After all, she wasn’t heartless.

After freeing all of the makeup and perfumes from the counter, she made her way to the dress on the wardrobe and began peeling it gently from the wood. When that was finished, she turned toward the one and a half shoes lying on the floor. She was quite tempted to just leave them there, but with a sigh she gave in and unstuck them as well. There. Now everything was back to normal—minus the random broken heel on the floor. Elphaba grinned to herself before putting the towel and her oil back. She grabbed her bag and slipped out of the room once more, intent on exploring the lesser known parts of campus before the sun went down.

 

***

 

“Imagine our horror when we walked in and saw her!”

Galinda cringed in sympathy for her friends. “So what’s she like in class?”

“Unnerving!” Milla squeaked. “She just sits in the back, no doubt staring at all of us…”

“And she’s a complete know it all,” Shenshen added. “She answered almost every question the teacher asked.”

Galinda silently prayed that she would never be in a class with the green freak. Having her as a roommate was bad enough. She sighed. “It’s getting late. I should go.”

“Back to that horrid creature?” Pfannee asked.

Galinda just shook her head. “I still need to figure out how to fix my belongings. And Oz knows what other damage she could be doing right now.”

“Poor thing,” Shenshen said, smiling sadly at her. Galinda tried to smile back.

“I’ll see you all tomorrow,” she sighed, waving as she left the courtyard and headed back to Crage Hall.

But to her surprise, the room was empty when she arrived. She walked in slowly, looking around for any sign of trouble. When nothing immediately stood out, she relaxed and crossed to her side of the room. Her brow furrowed as she ran a hand over the dress stuck to her wardrobe.

Only…it wasn’t stuck anymore. The fabric rustled beneath her, swaying over the wood. Galinda turned toward what was left of her blue shoes. Sure enough, they moved when she nudged them with her foot. Could it be? The blonde rushed to the bathroom, nearly crying with relief when she picked up the closest perfume bottle. The glue was gone!

But how? Did it just wear off over time? She went back into the bedroom and crept over to Elphaba’s desk. She tried to open the book she had glued together, but it stayed firmly shut. What in Oz..?

She froze as she heard footsteps approaching the door. Panic bubbled in her chest as she replaced the book and hurried over to her wardrobe.

Elphaba walked in, her nose buried in yet another book. She didn’t even look up as she closed the door behind her and set her bag down on her desk. Galinda busied herself with putting the once-ruined dress back away, but then she stopped and looked at her roommate. What was she afraid of?

The blonde cleared her throat. Elphaba had settled into her corner already, and she didn’t feel the need to pay her roommate any attention at the moment.

“Elphaba Thropp.”

“Miss Galinda?” she sighed, lowering the book slightly.

“Do you have nothing to say for yourself?”

The green girl smirked. “Quite the contrary, actually. I have plenty of things to say for myself. That’s what happens when one can think for oneself. Oh, but what would you know about that?”

Galinda opened her mouth then shut it again, knowing she had been insulted but unsure how to respond to it. She shook her head angrily, the blonde curls whipping around her face. “I meant do you have anything to say for yourself about this.” She gestured to the room.

“About the room? Well now that you mention it, your half is a bit too _pink_ for my tastes—”

“Did you ruin my possessions?” Galinda asked, pointing at her accusingly.

Elphaba raised an eyebrow, looking around. “Did I? Nothing seems to be out of order…”

“My dress was stuck to my wardrobe, I couldn’t lift any of my things in the bathroom—”

“That seems like quite the dilemma, Miss Galinda. Would you like me to take a look for you?”

Galinda crossed her arms over her chest. “Well, it’s fixed _now_.”

“Oh? Then why are you bothering me about it?”

“Because you did it!”

Elphaba cackled. “Finally! I thought you’d never get to the point.”

“You had no right to—”

Elphaba leapt from her bed and walked up to Galinda. The blonde broke off and trembled as her roommate towered over her.

“Let me make myself perfectly clear, Miss Galinda. This was a warning. You and your little friends are going to leave me alone, or else much worse than this will happen to you and your belongings. Understood?”

Galinda was having trouble finding her voice. Something close to a squeak came out before she resigned to simply nodding. The green girl turned away, and Galinda was relieved not to be facing those intense brown eyes anymore.

“Good,” Elphaba said, walking over to her desk. Galinda flinched and backed up as her roommate reached for one of the books. “I didn’t leave this here…” Her voice trailed off as she picked it up, noticing the glued pages.

The green girl spun around, drilling her eyes into the blonde. Galinda jumped, still backing away. “Miss Galinda, you look so guilty,” Elphaba said slowly. The blonde could feel her heart pounding. What was that evil look in her eyes? What was she going to do?

Elphaba grinned even wider, enjoying the fear playing across her roommate’s face. But instead of doing anything, she simply strode into the bathroom and closed the door behind her. Galinda lowered herself onto her bed, trying to catch her breath. Elphaba came out a few minutes later, book still in hand. She stopped before setting it back on her desk, turning and smiling at the blonde as she flipped through the pages. They fluttered easily, good as new. Galinda couldn’t help it. Her fingers curled into her blankets as she scowled at the green girl.

Elphaba smirked. “The first rule of battle, my dear roommate, is that you can never defeat your enemy with their own weapon.” With that, she set the book down and returned to her bed, curling into the corner and burying her nose into whatever she had been reading when she first walked in.

Galinda was a little unsure of what had just happened, but she wasn’t about to question it. Instead, she steadied her hands and stood, fully intent on never speaking to her roommate again.


	4. Chapter 4

The next morning she woke up yet again to an empty room. It occurred to Galinda that she had never seen her roommate asleep. She was always reading long after the blonde went to bed, and she was gone before she was up in the morning.

_Not that it matters,_ Galinda grinned, _No amount of beauty sleep could make up for_ that _disaster._

She walked around the room carefully, inspecting every little detail of her belongings. But nothing was amiss. Her desk was as tidy as ever. Her clothes and shoes were untouched. In the bathroom, her endless assortment of beauty treatments were lined up neatly, just the way she had left them the night before. Galinda let out a breath she hadn’t realized she was holding. True to the green girl’s word, the destruction of her property was only a warning. No other damage had been done.

An hour later, just as she was slipping into her shoes, there was a light knock on her door. She squealed with delight as she opened it to find her friends.

“I was just about to come down for breakfast. What are you all doing here?” she asked, letting them into the room.

“We wanted to see what horrors the monster has unleashed this morning,” Pfannee said, crossing her arms as she inspected the room. “Oz, her things are hideous!”

“Well? What did she do?” Milla asked, bouncing on the balls of her feet.

“Surprisingly, nothing,” Galinda answered, looking around herself. “In fact, all of my ruined things were fixed when I got back last night.”

The three girls gaped at her. Galinda thought quickly. She didn’t want to admit that Elphaba had fixed her things. It just wouldn’t do for anyone to think the green girl might have a heart. The blonde shrugged. “I…I guess the glue wasn’t permanent. Her book was fine, too. She never noticed it.”

When she was younger, Galinda had fallen into a terrible lying habit. She twisted her stories around to make herself look better. The little blonde had loved having control over something. But her Ama Clutch—the gentle old woman who raised her while her parents were always busy being Lord and Lady Upland—had quickly caught on. Instead of scolding the child, she began twisting things around before Galinda had a chance. It wasn’t long before the frustrated blonde stopped her lying, and her Ama told her to never fall into that habit again.

But her Ama wasn’t here at Shiz. She had never met Elphaba, she didn’t know what a horror the vegetable was. Surely this wasn’t the same. Either way, whatever guilt Galinda felt vanished as her friends nodded, accepting her story.

“It’s a shame about her book, though,” Shenshen said, scowling at the green girl’s desk.

“Indeed,” Pfannee said. “We’ll have to think of something else to get back at her.”

Galinda wrung her hands, remembering her roommate’s words from the night before. “I don’t know. Last night she…she said this was a warning, and that she’d do much worse if we didn’t leave her alone.”

“She _threatened_ you?” Milla gasped.

“All the more reason to get back at her,” Shenshen said. “Besides, what can she do? We have all of Shiz on our side.”

“That doesn’t stop what happens to my stuff,” Galinda mumbled.

“Perhaps.” Pfannee’s face was dark. “But if peer pressure can’t get to her…then I’m sure Morrible can.”

All four girls shuddered at the thought of their headmistress. Galinda wouldn’t wish the wrath of Madame Morrible on anyone. Well, maybe just one person…

“You’re right,” the blonde smiled. “Now, let’s go down to breakfast. We can’t plan brilliant revenges on empty stomachs, now can we?”

 

***

 

The friends were still deep in discussion as they walked to their first class that morning. Galinda wasn’t quite over the fright of last night. She could still feel those fierce brown eyes digging into her. She thought of her roommate towering over her and forced herself to hold back a shudder. But the other girls were right. What could the green freak do? Once again, popularity proved to have the upper hand.

Besides, she couldn’t turn back now. Any decent plan of revenge obviously had to involve her. She was the person on the inside, the informant without whom all would surely fail. She supposed that meant she would have to talk to her roommate again. But it would all be worth it to see the monster suffer.

“We have to be careful, though,” Milla said. She cast a sideways glance at Galinda. “Knowing her, she’d do something just terrible to get back at us.”

“So we have to do something so small that she won’t bother?” Shenshen asked.

“Or something so big that she’d be afraid to,” Pfannee said, her eyes narrowing.

“I don’t know,” Galinda mused, “I’m not sure she even knows what fear is.”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Pfannee said smoothly. “Everyone is afraid of something. We just have to find out what it is.”

“Oh! Oh!” Milla jumped up and down. “Spiders? Every girl in their right mind fears spiders!”

Galinda shook her head. “She’s _green_ , remember? I highly doubt normal fears are going to work on her.”

“No,” Shenshen agreed, “But what if—”

She clamped her mouth shut as they walked into the building. The classroom wasn’t exactly full, but one occupant immediately captured their attention.

“Oh, no,” Galinda whispered. The moment she’d been dreading had finally arrived. Her roommate—complete with nauseating skin, appalling navy frock, and a book to bury her nose in—was sitting in a corner near the front of the room.

“Not another class with the green bean!” Milla groaned, collapsing into one of the chair in the middle of the room. If Elphaba heard, she gave no sign.

The girls sat at the table with Milla, shooting venomous glances at the front corner of the room.

“Look at her!” Galinda said under her breath. “Class hasn’t even started yet and she’s already reading and taking notes.”

“Oh, she’s like that.” Shenshen nodded. “You’ll see.”

Galinda just shook her head, baffled. Pfannee shrugged. “She fancies herself to be quite intelligent. Maybe she is. I suppose everyone has something they’re good at.”

“For her, it’s being an insufferable know-it-all,” Milla giggled.

“Better a know-it-all than an airhead, Miss Milla.”

The four girls whipped around to glare at the green girl, but the looks were lost. She hadn’t even glanced up from her book. She didn’t even smile as she went on, “Besides, the majority of the population is more intelligent than the four of you. It doesn’t make us know-it-alls.”

Milla cried out, moving to stand up out of her chair, but she was cut off by a gruff voice coming from just outside the doorway.

“Good morning, class.”

Galinda grabbed her friend’s arm and shook her head. “Not now,” she mouthed. Milla sank back in her chair, glowering at the green girl. But her rage was brief, for it was that moment when their teacher entered the room.

“Welcome to your first semester of Ozian history. My name is Dr. Dillamond.”

Several students gasped as they caught sight of the professor. Those sitting further back half rose from their seats to see him, for his shoulders stood only just above the tables. He was completely covered with cream-colored fur, save for a patch of brown on his back. His hooves—yes, _hooves_ —clopped against the stone floor as he walked to the front of the room. From there, the entire class could see him clearly, from his thick, gray spiraled horns to his short tail. A few of the more proper girls, Galinda and company included, cringed at the sight. Multiple boys pushed their chairs back slightly. A tense silence hung in the air as the students realized their professor was a…

“A Goat?” Shenshen breathed. Galinda could only stare, her mouth hanging open. Her fingers gripped the edge of her table tightly. No no no! She did not work her butt off to be taught by an _Animal_.

“There must be some mistake,” Pfannee said, her voice higher than usual. “You can’t be our professor. You’re a—”

“A living being, just like the rest of us,” Elphaba said sharply. She turned in her chair to face Pfannee. Even though she was across the classroom, Galinda flinched. There was that look again. The green girl’s eyes, usually so flat and guarded, were practically blazing. Her brow furrowed as she scanned the room, as if daring someone else to say something. When no one did, she turned back around to face the Goat.

Dr. Dillamond cleared his throat. “It is only expected for some of you to be startled by my appearance. After all, we Animals are appearing less and less in typical Ozian society.” Out of the corner of her eye, Galinda saw her roommate tense. What was that about? She shook herself slightly and focused back on the teacher. “But I assure you, my being an Animal in no way affects my teaching abilities. I am sure that the initial shock will soon wear off—it always does—and we will be able to conduct class normally as the year goes on. As your classmate here said, I am a living being, just like the rest of you. Really, the only thing I lack is opposable thumbs.” The Goat chuckled, his beard and whiskers twitching. “And seeing that I lack the means to write on the chalkboard, all of your notes will be given to you orally. Shall we begin?”

Even the sound of notebooks and pens being taken out was hushed. Galinda was still trying to mask the horror on her face. Looking around, she saw that she wasn’t the only one trying to wrap their mind around an Animal professor. Indeed, it seemed like the entire class was struggling to accept it. And who could blame them? Everybody knew that Animals were an ugly stain on the otherwise perfect Ozian society. Even Galinda, who cared little for the debates her parents attended, knew about the stripping of Animal rights. The foul creatures had occupied their cities and schools and jobs for too long, even though it was obvious that humans were more capable, more sophisticated, more…well, just _more._

But one student didn’t seem to be upset. She wasn’t horrified or appalled. She wasn’t even shocked. In fact, Elphaba Thropp looked downright _eager_ to be in a class taught by an old Goat. She was leaning forward slightly, her pen poised over a page that was already half full of notes.

And why shouldn’t she be eager? She was finally, _finally_ sitting in Dr. Dillamond’s history class, about to learn from her biggest hero. The Goat was infamous for his numerous findings in genetics and evolution, his endless knowledge of Ozian history, and—most importantly—his iron-hard stance and reasoning in the Animal rights debates. And to top it all off, he hadn’t cringed when he looked at her! In fact, she could have _sworn_ she saw the hint of a smile beneath his beard. Elphaba had already known he was an Animal, but it made no difference to her. No, scratch that. It did make a difference. It made the class even better. She had a feeling that an Animal would not twist history around the way humans tended to do. The green girl knew immediately that this would be her favorite class.

“Now,” Dr. Dillamond said, walking over to his desk and flipping open one of the books. “Let’s start with the basics. History is one of the most important subjects you will ever learn. Can anyone tell me why?”

Elphaba’s hand didn’t shoot up into the air. Despite popular belief, she wasn’t an over-eager smartass out to prove her intelligence. But she did know the answer, so after waiting a moment to see if anyone else would speak up, she raised her hand.

“Ah, yes. Miss…?” Dr. Dillamond tilted his head toward her.

“Miss Elphaba, sir. History is crucial because…”

Galinda looked down at her paper, watching her pen scrawl idly across the sheet. She didn’t pay attention to a word her roommate said, and she didn’t plan on it. But a light elbow to her ribs made her look up again. “See what we meant?” Pfannee whispered.

“Very good, Miss Elphaba,” the Goat said, his eyes twinkling. “Now, this semester will take us from the appearance of the first Ozians in Quadling Country, through the settling of the five countries, and up to the establishment of the Ozma Regime. Now, who can tell me what Oz was believed to be like before the first humans appeared?”

Once again, a green hand rose to meet his question. Elphaba tried not to grin when she heard a small _hmph_ from her roommate’s table. Oh yes. This was going to be a fun class indeed.

 

***

 

“Miss Elphaba, may I have a word with you?”

Students had packed up their bags and darted for the door the second the bell had echoed across campus. By the time the last toll sounded, the room was empty. Elphaba looked up at Dr. Dillamond. “Of course, sir.” She slid her books easily into her bag and approached the Goat’s desk.

“Please, sit,” he said, gesturing at a stool near the end of the table. She sat down, looking intently at her teacher. “So you are the infamous Miss Thropp.”

Elphaba stiffened a bit at the name. “With all due respect, sir, I prefer to go by my first name.”

“Your last name offends you?”

“It’s not so much offensive as…stifling.”

Something in the way the Goat’s eyes twinkled told her that he had been anticipating that sort of response. “Hm. I have learned that many who are given titles at such a young age reject them.”

“I always thought it better to grow up rejecting the title rather than abusing it.”

“Ah, so there is more to your intelligence than textbooks.”

Elphaba could feel the blood tingeing her cheeks, darkening her green skin. Dr. Dillamond chuckled.

“But tell me, Miss Elphaba, why have I been hearing all these terrible things about you? The rumor mill here at Shiz has not been kind to you so far this year—and dear me, it’s only your third day!—yet you seem like a nice enough young lady.”

Elphaba looked down at that, her fingers curling around the strap of her bag. “Yes, well. I’m afraid you have only seen the scholar part of me, and I daresay that’s my only good side.”

Dr. Dillamond looked at her for a long moment. “If you say so, Miss Elphaba. Just don’t let what your peers say get to you. The world tends to put too much weight in first appearances.”

The green girl jumped to her feet, shifting the strap on her shoulder. “I-I should go, sir. Thank you. I…I should head to class.” She hurried away, carefully reinforcing her mental walls, but that didn’t stop her from hesitating in the doorway. “By the way, sir, I…I’m a huge fan of your work.” Without looking at Dr. Dillamond, she sped out of the room. The door fell shut behind her, the sound echoing through the nearly empty building.


	5. Chapter 5

Galinda sank into her chair with a groan. “Talk about _freak_. She couldn’t just be green. She couldn’t just be mean. She had to be an arrogant _genius_ as well.”

The friends were sitting at one of the outdoor tables at the café, enjoying a pitcher of iced tea and a plate of sandwiches before their afternoon classes began.

Pfannee let out a short laugh. “Well, if her only friends in grade school were her _teachers_ …”

“That’s probably exactly what happened,” Shenshen agreed. “Her and that old Goat really seemed to hit it off.” All four girls wrinkled their noses at the thought of their history teacher.

Milla lifted her glass suddenly. “A toast, ladies, to the freaks’ friendship!”

“Cheers!” They clinked their glasses together before dissolving into giggles.

“Excuse me, Miss Galinda?”

The blonde turned to see a rather short boy approaching the table. Instinctively, she sat up a little taller and smoothed her dress. She was used to the attention of boys, even though she would never even think about this boy. He was much too short—Munchkin height, in fact! Still, she plastered on a smile and turned toward him. “Yes? Do I know you?”

The Munchkin offered his hand. “We’ve had a couple of classes together. My name’s Boq.”

Galinda wasn’t paying attention to a word he said. She was too busy staring at his hand, wondering if she really had to shake the hand of a Munchkin boy. And one who seemed to have affections for her, no less!

“Oh!” she said, suddenly realizing that he had stopped talking. She shook his hand, still forcing a smile. “Yes, of course. It’s nice to meet you.”

“Well, I’ll, uh, see you around!” He smiled at her before leaving. As soon as he was out of sight, the others started giggling madly.

“He likes you, Galinda!” Pfannee snickered. “A _Munchkin_!”

“Don’t be like that, Pfan,” Shenshen protested, grinning. “He was sweet enough.”

“Sweet or not, he’s much too short.” Galinda tilted her chin up. Height had always been a sensitive subject for her, since she was shorter than nearly everyone she knew. If she ended up with a man even shorter than her…well, Oz help whatever children they had! No, she needed someone of at least average height. Preferably with locks of dark, silky hair. And eyes that shone when they looked at her…

“Galinda? Galinda, are you still with us?”

“Oh, I know that look! She’s daydreaming!”

Galinda blinked. “Sorry, girls. I suppose I was.”

“About a boy?” Milla squealed.

Galinda smiled shyly. “Well, don’t you ever think about what kind of man you’d want?”

“Rich,” Milla said, nodding.

“Handsome, of course.” Pfannee smiled at the mental image of her perfect date.

“Sweet,” Shenshen said, a little timidly.

“Oh, and they have to dress well!”

“And own a _huge_ mansion, with ballrooms and servants and…”

The girls dissolved into detailing the perfect husband, and Galinda couldn’t help but think that everything at Shiz was falling together nicely.

 

***

 

Their first week passed without further incident. Elphaba settled quickly into her classes, and it soon became clear that she was the favorite of nearly every teacher. The fact that she was a nerd swept through campus, and thus became the cause behind the newest of rumors. She was often bumped into on the sidewalks as her classmates tried to knock her books out of her arms. The results, however, were somewhat pitiful. The green girl had learned long ago how to read, walk, and avoid trouble all at the same time.

Galinda and her friends took a few days off, enjoying the sight of their peers tormenting the vegetable instead. All the while, though, they were planning. Galinda did her best to find a weak spot on her roommate. Surely there was _something_ that would get to the green girl. But for all her trying, she couldn’t find much.

She liked to read. Perhaps damaging her books would be a harsh blow, but Galinda wasn’t willing to risk her own possessions in retaliation.

She spent most of her time at the library. Well, that information was potentially helpful. The library was usually mostly empty. It was the perfect spot for an ambush, if only they knew _how_ to ambush her.

She sleeps with a funny green bottle beneath her pillow.

The blonde had stumbled upon that fact. It had been just a regular evening, and she had taken advantage of her empty room by practicing her sorcery. She hadn’t _meant_ to make her roommate’s bed explode. But somewhere she must have messed up the pronunciation of something, and all of a sudden dark ratty sheets and pillows were thrown across the room. The blonde scowled, but at least Elphaba wasn’t here to yell at her. Sighing heavily, she remade the bed. She was about to replace the last pillow when something caught her eye. It was a bottle, made of a strange green glass that seemed to almost glow. Despite her disgust at touching Elphaba’s things, she reached forward and picked up the bottle. An old, worn label wrapped around the base, but she couldn’t make out the words.

Galinda had replaced the bottle and the pillow, and had never spoken a word of it to her roommate or anyone else until now.

“What do you think it is?” Milla asked excitedly.

Shenshen leaned forward, lowering her voice. “Maybe it’s magic. Or something dangerous.”

“Who would sleep with something dangerous beneath their pillow?” Pfannee scoffed.

“I don’t know,” Shenshen mused. “If it’s a weapon…I mean, I’ve heard the Gale Force always sleep with their daggers near their bedrolls.”

“Doesn’t it bother you that she’s keeping a weapon in her bed? What if she decides to use it on you one night?”

The blonde shook her head. “She would have done that already. Besides, I don’t think it’s a weapon. If it was, she wouldn’t leave it lying there all day.”

“So what could it be?” Milla asked again.

“I still think it seems magical,” Shenshen said. “You said the bottle was glowing?”

“It seemed like it,” Galinda responded. “But what kind of magic is it, if not a weapon?”

“Something to help her sleep?” Pfannee offered, but the blonde waved her hand.

“No, no. She barely sleeps anyway. She’s always awake later than me at night and gone before I’m up in the mornings.”

“How disturbing,” Shenshen said sympathetically. Galinda nodded sadly, inwardly marveling at the attention, as usual.

“What about a keepsake?” Pfannee asked suddenly. Milla brightened, sitting up straight.

“My grandfather always kept my grandmother’s necklace beneath his pillow after she passed on!” she said. “Could it be something like that?”

“I guess there’s only one way to find out.” Pfannee’s face split into a grin. “We see what her reaction is when it’s gone.”

Galinda liked the idea, but then she realized something. “Wait, you mean _I’ll_ have to steal it?”

“Well, who else is going to?”

“Oh, no. What if she catches me?”

“We could stand guard outside the room,” Shenshen said, grabbing her hand to reassure her. “Besides, you said she’s never there, right? You just need to snatch it sometime. There’s no way she could prove it was you.”

Galinda swallowed. “O-okay. But who’s going to keep it? Obviously I can’t, or else she’d find it.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Pfannee said with a wave of her hand. “I’ll take care of it.”

 

***

 

They planned the robbery for Sunday morning. Elphaba was usually out of the room early in the mornings and gone until evening, so she wouldn’t be in the way. Galinda spent weekends with her friends, so everyone would think the room was empty for most of the day. With that fact, it would be hard to deny that anyone on campus could have gotten in and taken the bottle.

Galinda woke up, excitement and adrenaline immediately pouring through her. She smiled to herself, but a noise cut through her thoughts. She sat up to see her roommate walking out of the bathroom. The blonde shuddered at her outfit: a loose pair of trousers and a baggy blouse, both of them an awful blue-gray color. But then she thought of something much worse.

“What are you _doing_ here?” Galinda hissed. Elphaba looked up, a single eyebrow raised.

“I live here.”

“But you’re never here in the mornings!”

“Quite the contrary, Miss Galinda. I’m here _every_ morning. See, I sleep just over there.”

“Oh, you know what I mean! Why aren’t you gone yet?”

“Are you trying to get rid of me?”

“Obviously!” The blonde clenched her fists around her blanket, trying to regain some control. Her friends would be here soon, and this would never work if Elphaba was still hanging around.

“I’m hurt, Miss Galinda.” The green girl put a hand to her chest, looking nowhere near hurt enough.

Galinda swung her legs out of bed and stood, reaching for her hairbrush. She grumbled under her breath as she worked through her hair. “Just wonderful. I have to put up with you in class, and around campus, and every single night, and the one time I can count on you being out of my sight, you’re still plaguing me.”

“A plague, now, am I?” Elphaba said, smirking. “Well, you know me. My entire existence revolves around making yours miserable.”

“Apparently!” Galinda sniffed. She had to get the freak out of the room somehow. Maybe… Yes, that might work. The blonde fought to hide her smile. Elphaba pretended not to hear anyone who talked bad about her, but Galinda wondered just how immune to the rumors the green girl actually was. “But I suppose, as long as you’re here, we could try to act civil.”

“Oh wow, you’re too kind.” Elphaba rolled her eyes. She grabbed a book from her desk and settled into the corner of her bed, folding herself up so tight it seemed like she was trying to sink into the wall.

“I know I am.” Galinda beamed. “Now, do tell me. Someone was talking about you the other day, and I _must_ know if it was true.”

“If it didn’t come from me, probably not.”

“All rumors are based in some sort of truth, Miss Elphaba.”

“Indeed, Miss Galinda. The truth that most of the people here are pathetic and ignorant.”

Galinda chose to ignore that. “This boy said something about you having a sister. Is that true?”

Elphaba gave no reaction. No tensing of the shoulders, no tightening of her fingers around her book. She didn’t even respond. Galinda bit back a huff. “Well? Is it?”

“Is that any of your business?” The green girl said finally.

“He also said her skin wasn’t green, but there was something else wrong with her.”

There it was. One hand left the book, curling into a fist before pressing flat against her thigh. Galinda smiled slightly. “Well, is it true?”

“Again, I don’t see how this concerns you, Miss Galinda.” Her voice was smooth, but it had dropped in pitch.

“Oh, Miss Elphaba, I’m sorry,” Galinda cried suddenly. “I see talking about your family upsets you. Do you miss them? I miss my parents dearly. But of course, they send me letters and packages from home. Does your family write to you, Miss Elphaba?” Her smile twisted into a smirk as she finished. She knew very well that her roommate hadn’t received any mail from home.

The green girl bristled. “What does it matter to you?”

“You’re avoiding the question. I suppose that means no.”

“I’d appreciate it, Miss Galinda, if you could leave me to my reading in peace.”

“What is it you read all the time, anyway?”

“Words.”

“How amusing,” Galinda said, her voice lifting with scorn. But then she saw the title on the spine. “Animals? You’re reading a book about animals?”

“Not animals, Miss Galinda, _Animals_.”

Galinda let out a short laugh. “I see the old Goat of a professor has drawn you into his senseless prattle. You know, I heard a rumor that—”

“You hear lots of rumors,” Elphaba said shortly. “And I don’t care to listen to any of them.”

“What’s wrong? Afraid to hear something bad about the delusional beast?”

“Animals aren’t beasts!” Elphaba spat. “They have minds and hearts just like we do, and to treat them any differently is an injustice!”

Galinda’s smirk widened. She crossed her arms over her chest, trying to contain her glee at the outburst, and kept up her light, airy tone. “Sure, Miss Elphaba. I suppose next you’ll be telling us that green people can fit in to society.”

Elphaba bit back a noise of disgust and leapt from the bed. Galinda quailed, backing away from her, but the green girl didn’t care. She grabbed her bag and stormed out of the room. It was bad enough that she had to put up with such ignorance during the week. She was sure she had lost multiple brain cells listening to Galinda and her friends.

Galinda winced as the door slammed, but then she jumped up and down with delight. She had gotten rid of the green bean! Giggling to herself, she darted over to her roommate’s bed and reached under the pillows. Her fingers closed around the bottle just as there was a knock on her door.

She opened it wide and, seeing it was her friends, dangled the bottle in front of her. “Can I help you girls?”

They burst into giggles. “You did it!” Shenshen exclaimed.

“We saw her storming down the hall,” Milla said. “What happened?”

“Oh, we were just chatting. Apparently talking about her family puts her in a foul mood.”

More giggles. “Brilliant, Galinda!” Pfannee hugged her friend and took the bottle. “I’ll keep this safe. Now all there’s left to do is sit back and watch.”

Galinda looked at her. “Once she figures out I don’t have it, she’ll probably suspect you. Are you sure you can take care of it?”

“Oh, don’t you worry,” Pfannee grinned. “She’ll never get it from me.”

 

***

 

Elphaba settled down only a few minutes after she had left the room. Still, she didn’t go back until after dark. Why in Oz’s name was she stuck with the most popular girl at Shiz for a roommate? Anyone else might have been content with ignoring her, but no, Galinda Upland was too worried about her social standing to leave her alone. She had to kick Elphaba down so she could rise even higher. The green girl could take whatever they threw at her in public. But when it was in the privacy of their room, where anything she did or said would be twisted against her…

She took a deep breath. It didn’t matter. Galinda had had her bit of fun. It was only words, after all. She had heard them all before.

The curtains were drawn over the window when she returned to the room. The only light was the dim lamp that hung between the beds. Galinda strolled in and out of the bathroom, humming quietly. The roommates made no move to acknowledge each other.

Elphaba sat her bag down and collapsed onto her bed with a sigh. No doubt Galinda had spent the day with her friends. Elphaba had never had a friend to spend any days with. She didn’t know why it was hitting her all of a sudden, but it was. Her first week at Shiz had proven to be no better than the rest of her life. She would deal with it, naturally. She always had. But still, she had worked hard to get to Shiz, and she was going to continue to work hard, so why couldn’t she catch a break once in a while?

Almost absentmindedly, her hand reached back, fumbling beneath the pillows. She froze. After glancing at the bathroom to make sure Galinda was out of sight, she spun around and moved the pillows. It wasn’t there. No, that was impossible. No one knew about the bottle. It couldn’t be gone. It must have fallen off the bed.

She slid silently off the mattress and looked on the floor, but there was no sign of it. A quiet groan escaped her lips. She rushed over to her desk, digging through the drawer, through her bag, through anything.

“Oh no. No no no,” she whispered to herself. Galinda heard her and moved to the bathroom doorway. She struggled to keep her face blank as she watched her roommate. The green girl was darting across the room, searching everything she could. It was the most emotion she had ever seen from her roommate. Indeed, the freak seemed to be nearly panicking.

“Is everything all right, Miss Elphaba?” Galinda finally asked. She couldn’t help it. The sight was just too good.

Elphaba kept her back turned. “Fine.”

“Well, then, I must ask you to stop tearing apart our room.”

“I’m only tearing apart my half of the room,” the green girl said, her voice surprisingly light.

“Yes, but you’re getting your filthy belongings all over _my_ half.” Galinda picked up a black frock with her toe and kicked it back towards the green girl. Elphaba clenched her fists, fighting the urge to growl.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (If these have any typos or mistakes, I apologize. I've caught a few while scrolling through each post, but I'm sure I won't get all of them.)

“Oh, you should have been there!” Galinda squealed to her friends the next morning. “I’ve never seen her so upset!”

Pfannee grinned. “This was our best idea yet. Did she say what she had lost?”

“No, and I didn’t dare bring it up.”

“Try to,” Shenshen said eagerly. “I want to know why it’s so important to her.”

But Galinda was hesitant. She didn’t know how to ask about the bottle without letting her roommate know she was the one who took it. Of course, Galinda was sure she would figure it out eventually. Elphaba wasn’t stupid. And her dark eyes seemed to be catching the blonde’s far more often that day. Still, an opportunity arose the next morning.

Galinda grabbed her perfume bottle from the counter, smiling at her reflection. But when she dabbed the liquid on, she froze. Something wasn’t right. This was her flowery perfume. But it was in the spot where her vanilla one usually was. She leaned forward, inspecting the counter more closely. All of her bottles and jars had been placed neatly, but they were slightly out of order. She grinned when she realized what had happened.

“Miss Elphaba?” Her voice was overly sweet as she stepped back into the room. The green girl had shouldered her bag and was about to leave, but she turned back to scowl at the blonde. “Would you care to explain why my things have been moved?”

“Have they?” Elphaba said lightly. “Strange. It would appear we have some sort of poltergeist on our hands.”

“Very funny, Miss Elphaba. But I think we both know it wasn’t a ghost who messed with my things.”

“Well if you’re so sure about it all, why don’t you go catch the culprit?”

“I’m looking right at her, Miss Elphaba…” Galinda hesitated. “This wouldn’t have anything to do with you tearing apart the room the other night, would it?”

Elphaba set her jaw and made to leave. “Miss Elphaba,” Galinda called, stopping her. “If you’ve lost something, why don’t you just tell me? Maybe I could help you find it.”

“I’m sure you could, seeing as you took it,” the green girl said through her teeth.

“If I took it, why didn’t you find it among my things?”

“You gave it to one of your stupid friends, I’m sure.”

“Don’t insult my friends, green bean.”

“Don’t mess with my stuff.”

“I could say the same thing. What did you lose, anyway?”

“The bottle!” Elphaba snapped. “That bottle you took from my pillows!”

Galinda fought back her grin. “A bottle? Whatever for?”

The green girl muttered a curse under her breath and stormed out of the room. Galinda clapped her hands together, delighted at having achieved yet another victory.

 

***

 

But Elphaba hadn’t given up hope yet. She just had to wait for the right opportunity.

And the right opportunity just so happened to be that evening, just as the sun was dipping into the trees on the west side of campus. The final classes of the day had been let out. Normally, Elphaba would go to the library, but she was too distracted with the bottle. So she headed straight for Crage Hall.

Four girls were gathered outside the building in a loose circle, giggling to themselves. Elphaba raised an eyebrow. Perfect.

“Evening ladies,” she said, striding over to them. All four froze, staring up at her in a strange mixture of amusement and fear. “How are we this fine night?”

“We’d be better if you weren’t here,” Pfannee spat.

One corner of the dark green lips twitched. “The feeling is mutual, Miss Pfannee. So let’s just get this over with, shall we? I want it back.”

“Want what back?” Shenshen’s eyes were wide with forced innocence.

“The bottle you stole from me,” Elphaba said impatiently. “The one Miss Galinda took and gave to one of you, probably Miss Pfannee. I’d like it back now, if you please.”

“Why, we don’t know what you’re talking about,” Milla said, but she couldn’t keep a straight face. She let out a giggle, and the other three glared at her.

“Obviously,” Elphaba said. She turned toward Pfannee. “I know you have it.”

“Why does it mean so much to you?” The rich girl countered.

“That’s none of your business.”

“Well, then, I guess you won’t be getting it back.”

The green girl was fed up. She grit her teeth and lunged for Pfannee, but the girl jumped out of her reach. She pulled something out of her bag and held it up. The green bottle seemed to shimmer in the darkening night. “Oh, you mean this?”

“Give it back, you pathetic— _no!_ ” Elphaba cried out in sheer panic as Pfannee tossed the bottle around her. Shenshen caught it with a grin.

“What’s the matter, green bean?” Milla asked. “We won’t break it. Probably.”

“I said, give it _back!_ ” Elphaba rounded on Shenshen, who promptly turned and fled into the building. The others followed her, trying to elbow the green girl away.

Galinda pushed past all of them, pulling out her key. She unlocked her room and dragged Shenshen into it. The others followed, leaving the door open wide behind them.

“Hand it over.” Elphaba’s dark eyes were flaring. Her entire body trembled and her chest heaved. Normally Galinda would have been scared, but at that moment, she felt invincible. It was four against one, and they had the upper hand. As the green girl stepped toward Shenshen, she ducked and rolled the bottle between her feet. Galinda snatched it up neatly.

“Go on, Elphaba. Tell us what it is,” the blonde said, hugging the green glass to her chest.

“Give it here, blondie, before someone gets hurt.”

“Hmm…no.” Galinda darted into the bathroom, laughing with glee when her roommate charged after her. She leapt to the other side of the tub and turned on the faucet, flicking water up at her roommate. Elphaba flinched and backed away, growling. But there was a panic in her eyes, as if she was just realizing how outnumbered she was.

Being alone in the bathroom wasn’t a good idea, so Galinda flicked more water at her before turning it off and darting out of the room. She slammed the door behind her and muttered a quick spell, locking the handle in place.

“ _Galinda!_ ” The bathroom door shook, but the magic held. The rich girls gathered together, passing the bottle around. Their faces were flushed with victory. This was turning into quite the story to tell the next day.

“Galinda!” Elphaba yelled again. “Let me out _now!_ ”

“Tell us what this bottle is,” Pfannee replied. Galinda took it again, pretending to inspect it.

“Hm. Ugly, ragged, and green, just like a certain monstrous roommate of mine,” she said calmly. The pounding on the door had stopped. “If you don’t tell us what this is, I won’t let you out.”

Elphaba was trembling on the other side of the door. She wouldn’t tell them. She couldn’t. It was too dear to her. She refused to give them that hold in her life.

“Fine,” came Pfannee’s voice. “Obviously we were wrong, girls, and it’s not that important. I suppose we can just toss it out the window.”

“No!” Elphaba screamed despite herself. She began to panic. She couldn’t lose that bottle. It was all she had left of her mother. She felt a terribly familiar energy run through her, and suddenly the doorknob clicked.

Elphaba burst from the room, fury etched into her features. Pfannee, Milla, and Shenshen squeaked, darting towards the hallway, but the green girl only had eyes for one person. She grabbed Galinda by her jacket collar and shoved her against the wall. The blonde shoved the bottle behind her back.

“Let go of me, you brute!”

“Why should I? Your friends ran away, so it’s just you and me. Now, give me that bottle!”

“No!”

Elphaba was forced back by a rush of magic. The blonde froze, the blood draining from her face. She had never physically hurt someone like that. And with magic! She gulped as she realized that was the first time her power had come so easily, so _instinctively._

Elphaba stumbled to her feet, snarling and snapping Galinda back to attention. Thinking quickly, Galinda forced open the window and thrust her arm out. The bottle dangled from her fingers. Elphaba froze. She paled, the usually vibrant emerald fading to an awful gray-tinged green. “Don’t,” she whispered.

Galinda was stunned. Elphaba was staring at the bottle as if it were her lifeline. The blonde gripped it tightly.

“Tell me what it is.”

“Why are you doing this to me?” The green girl’s question was barely more than a breath, and Galinda was sure that she wasn’t meant to hear it.

But she still wouldn’t back down. She had been shoved against a wall and, even worse, her dress collar had ripped a little with the force. Besides, she couldn’t take pity on the green freak now. What would her friends think? She loosened her grip slightly. “Well?”

Elphaba felt her throat tighten. She didn’t want to tell her. She didn’t want this to be used against her. But what choice did she have? “It was my mother’s.” Her voice came out in a rasp. “That’s all.”

“That doesn’t seem that important,” Galinda said, her eyes narrowing.

“It’s all I have left of her,” Elphaba snapped.

They stayed that way for a moment, Elphaba frozen in the middle of the room and Galinda reaching out the window. “Fine,” the blonde said finally. She pulled the bottle back in and walked over to her roommate’s bed. Grimacing, she lifted a pillow by its corner and replaced the bottle. “Good as new.”

But Elphaba wasn’t done yet. She grabbed Galinda by the arm and threw her to the floor. The blonde gaped up at her. The green girl had recovered from her lapse of control and was now glaring at her with all the force in the world. But Galinda refused to lose her victory so easily. She jumped up, slamming one sharp heel into her roommate’s toe.

Elphaba jerked back, but then pushed her roommate into the wall again. “If you _ever_ touch my stuff again…” Her voice was thick with unspoken threats. Next to them, the window shuttered, almost humming with energy. Galinda’s eyes widened. All around the room, papers were fluttering. The bed sheets rippled. The door to the hall slammed shut.

Her roommate could do magic?

Elphaba turned away, her shoulders heaving, and the magic vanished. Without a word, she kicked off her boots and changed into a nightgown. Within seconds, she was slipping into her bed, reaching under her pillow to hold the green bottle.

Galinda went through her own nighttime routine and buried herself under her covers. But after all that had just happened, she was sure she would never sleep in the presence of her roommate again.


	7. Chapter 7

Elphaba woke up early the next morning, like usual, and glared over at the sleeping form of her roommate. She should cut off the girl’s precious golden hair right then and there, but something held her back. She couldn’t just torment Galinda this time—although she would definitely be tormenting her. No, this time her revenge had to include all four of those brats.

Part of her was afraid of leaving her bottle beneath her pillow, but she was sure that it would be safe there. The girls had had their fun, and now they knew what the bottle was for. They wouldn’t try the same trick again.

 

***

 

It was after her first class when she heard the whispers.

She had known they were coming. As soon as her pathetic blonde roommate met up with her friends that morning, her secret would be spilled. But that didn’t stop her blood from running cold when she stumbled across a group of her classmates huddled in an alley between buildings.

“I heard she has no mother.”

Elphaba froze. She leaned against the brick and strained her ears to listen. Normally she wouldn’t care, but what they said this time was dangerous. She needed to know how bad the damage was.

“Yeah, she died a long time ago,” a girl’s voice said.

“I heard it was some freak accident.”

“You mean the green bean caused it?”

Elphaba’s long fingers curled into fists. Those stupid girls. Those pathetic, ignorant brats. They would pay for this.

“I don’t believe it,” a boy scoffed. “She’s a freak, sure, but a murderer?”

“I’d believe it,” someone else piped up.

“It could have been on accident, I suppose. Besides, didn’t you hear Miss Galinda this morning?”

“No, I haven’t seen her.”

The voices hushed, as if leaning forward. “She was telling Misses Pfannee and Shenshen that her roommate has… _magic_.”

A gasp ran through them. “Surely not! She’s not in any sorcery classes, is she?”

“No, but it’s there. Miss Galinda said so herself.”

“Oh, poor Miss Galinda,” someone sighed. The others made sounds of agreement.

“It’s bad enough being stuck with that vegetable. But now we know she’s dangerous…”

Elphaba had heard enough. She gripped her bag and walked in the opposite direction. Of course. Of _course_ this would happen. It wasn’t enough for the girls to spread rumors about her mother. Saying she’d killed her! They had no idea what they were talking about! Still, Elphaba winced at the thought, feeling that familiar weight settle in her stomach.

But no, that wasn’t enough. On top of it all, she had lost control in front of Galinda. _Stupid!_ She mentally screamed at herself. She could have made up some excuse and gotten away with unlocking the door, but there was no explanation for when she pinned Galinda to the wall and caused the entire room to practically _vibrate_. It was plain and simple lack of control, and now it was costing her dearly. She didn’t want anyone to know she had magic. What if they found out it was tied to her emotions, and she didn’t always have a handle on it? It had happened when she was young, playing with the other children. They had found out, and they had tried constantly to provoke her, to make her do something stupid.

Or worse, what if Morrible found out? No. Elphaba was here to study history and life sciences and things like that. Nothing was going to stop her, especially not something as unreliable as _sorcery_.

She was so busy fuming that she didn’t see the person in front of her until they had slammed into each other. She yelped in surprise as her bag slid off her shoulder and spilled onto the ground. The person who ran into her fell backward, but she managed to stay upright. Elphaba, having gotten used to her classmates knocking her over in the past week, avoided the person’s eyes and started grabbing her books, shoving them into her bag in silence.

“I’m so sorry,” a male voice said, kneeling next to her and helping gather her things. She jerked away from him.

“Sure you are.”

“Really,” the boy said. He grabbed the last journal and stood, handing it to her. “I apologize, Miss Elphaba. I wasn’t paying attention.”

She looked at him for the first time, raising an eyebrow. The boy was obviously a Munchkinlander. His height gave that much away. But besides that, she had no idea who he was. Not that this surprised her. She barely knew anyone at Shiz, and she preferred to keep it that way.

Still, he looked sincere enough. She brushed her hands against her skirt. “Yes, well, I wasn’t looking either. No apologies needed. Good day.”

“W-wait!” He ran to catch up to her as she strode away. “I know you.”

“You mean you know _of_ me,” Elphaba countered without looking back. “You’ve heard the rumors about the awful green bean, so you think you know my life. But the truth, my dear sir, is that you know _nothing_.”

“Th-that’s not what I meant,” the Munchkin boy said. “I think we played together as children, back in Rush Margins.”

“You think?” Elphaba raised an eyebrow at him. “As in, you’re not certain if you played with a green girl as a child? I know memories tend to fade, but one would _think_ that, as there aren’t many green children, you would remember this one pretty clearly.”

“I don’t like to make assumptions, Miss Elphaba.”

Elphaba stopped. “Yet you assume you know me, despite the fact that I don’t even know your name. And I can _assume_ that the only reason you remember mine is from hearing others talk about me here at Shiz.”

The boy shifted uncomfortably, but chose to ignore her second point. “Boq is my name.”

“Well then, Master Boq, it’s been a pleasure knocking you to the ground and listening to you pretend to know me. However, the fact of the matter is that you _don’t_ know me, and you probably don’t even want to. I’d bet anything that you are only talking to me so you can learn some embarrassing information to pass onto Miss Galinda or her friends, probably to win the affections of one of them.”

“I’m not trying to set you up,” Boq protested, but his ears had grown quite red. Elphaba cackled.

“Perhaps not, but you _are_ trying to win someone’s favor. Which one is it? Oh, why do I bother asking? The obvious answer is Miss Galinda, of course.”

Boq looked quite flustered at that. Elphaba laughed and strode away once more. “Perhaps you knew me as a child, Master Boq,” she called, turning around to walk backwards. “But from what I’ve heard, you wouldn’t want to know me at all.”

The Munchkin just stared at her retreating back, wondering why in Oz he even bothered.

 

***

 

“So…you’re not mad at us, Miss Galinda?”

Milla stared up at her with wide eyes. Next to her, Pfannee was watching her carefully, and across from them, Shenshen was waiting expectantly. The truth was, she was furious with the girls. They had left her alone with an enraged green freak. Who knows what could have happened? But Galinda was smarter than to spite them. She had a lot to lose if she didn’t accept their apology, two of the most important things being her social standing and help with tormenting her roommate. So she put on the gentlest smile she could and shook her head.

“Of course I’m not, Miss Milla. Anyone would have run from the freak if they had the chance.”

The tension at the table disappeared, and she sat down next to Shenshen.

“It did work out alright in the end, though,” Pfannee mused. Galinda fought the urge to clench her fists. “You’re not hurt, and we’ve got plenty of new information against her.”

“Exactly,” Galinda said, smiling slightly. “But maybe…maybe we should lay low for a few days. Let the rumors go around for a bit.”

“Don’t tell us you’re feeling guilty,” Milla whined.

“Of course not,” Galinda said shortly. _I’m not the one who should feel guilty here,_ she added mentally. “But…you didn’t see her last night.”

“Oh yeah,” Shenshen said. “The magic.”

“Surely you can handle her?” Pfannee asked. Her face was serious, but Galinda could see the smirk in her eyes.

Well, fine. If she wanted to turn to mockery... “Well, of course _I_ can. I’ve got magic of my own, remember? I’m just worried about you three. She’d obviously take things out on those of us she knows can’t fight back.”

Pfannee’s eyes grew cold, but the other two exchanged frightened looks.

“How powerful do you think she is?” Milla whispered.

“I’m sure I don’t know,” Galinda said. “But it doesn’t take that much skill to pull harmful pranks, especially on those who don’t know magic.”

“You’re sweet to think of us, Galinda,” Shenshen said. Galinda took her hand with a smile.

“Well, I wouldn’t want you girls getting hurt by that awful green thing, now would I?”

“Even though we left you?” Milla looked on the verge of tears.

Galinda shook her head, enjoying the look on Pfannee’s face very much. “That’s in the past. I already said I wasn’t mad, didn’t I?”

It was later that afternoon when the rumors at Shiz shifted slightly. Now, Galinda was more than just the poor girl with an evil roommate. She was a downright saint, always looking out for her friends and everyone else and not afraid one bit of the green bean’s magic. The blonde walked back into her room, feeling very pleased with herself.

But the green girl would have none of that.

Elphaba sat up noticeably straighter as Galinda got ready for bed. When the blonde started to slide under her covers, the green girl mumbled under her breath, just loud enough for her roommate to hear.

Galinda ignored her and settled down. Elphaba just grinned behind her book. Something brushed against the blonde’s leg. She screamed, jumping up from the bed.

“Something wrong, Miss Galinda?”

Galinda pointed mutely at her bed. Elphaba raised an eyebrow and walked over. She pulled back the covers. A handful of caterpillars were crawling over the sheets, but she moved the blanket so her roommate wouldn’t see. Murmuring nonsense under her breath once again, she scooped up the bugs and slid them into a pocket of her clothes, moving swiftly and deftly so that Galinda couldn’t see any of it.

“Why, Miss Galinda, there’s nothing here.”

Galinda crept forward, eyeing her roommate warily. Her bed was empty. “But…but I felt…”

Elphaba smirked and walked off toward the bathroom.

“I heard you mumbling!” Galinda cried. “I know it was you!”

Her roommate just cackled, the sound echoing off the walls of the bathroom. Galinda nearly jumped back into her bed, throwing the covers around herself. The green girl emerged, having changed into her nightgown and re-braided her hair. “And they say you’re not afraid of my magic,” she said, her lips curled.

Galinda glared at her. Not another word was said that night.


	8. Chapter 8

There was no talk the next day of what Elphaba had done, just as she had expected. To tell others about it would be to admit that she was afraid of the green girl, and Galinda Upland simply couldn’t do that.

Still. It wasn’t fair to torment just Galinda. Elphaba had to think of something for all the girls. And she couldn’t keep pretending to do magic, either. Despite all the evidence, she had a feeling that Galinda had her moments of intelligence. They were rare and most likely wasted, but present nonetheless. Elphaba didn’t want to risk them finding out about her lack of control. Things would get…well, out of control.

“Good morning, Miss Elphaba,” said a voice. The green girl turned around, surveying the classroom she had just entered.

“Ah, the lovesick Munchkin,” she greeted him. Normally she would have said nothing, but they were the only two in the mathematics room. “And how are you today, Master Boq?”

“Simply splendid,” he answered. “And you, Miss Elphaba?”

“Oh, just peachy,” she said. But then she looked down at herself, holding her arms out slightly. “Actually, on second thought, I believe that’s one adjective that could never describe me.”

“Unless the peach was covered in mold,” Boq offered, but the amusement in his eyes was kind, not mocking. Elphaba found herself smiling at the remark.

“That’s it then,” she said, clapping her hands together. “From now on, peachy will mean _wonderful_ for the rest of the world, and covered in mold for me. I’m so glad we had this conversation. It’s a day-maker for sure.”

“Happy to be of service, Miss Elphaba,” Boq said with a chuckle. “Does this mean you believe me that we were childhood friends?”

“Friends?” Elphaba scoffed. “Maybe we played together, but I had no friends. My memories consist of a group of children constantly trying to get a rise out of me.”

“Are you talking about your childhood memories, or all of your memories in general?” Boq asked with a grin. Elphaba raised an eyebrow, but otherwise made no reaction. “Because it seems to me you could have been describing anything that happened last week.”

“How observant of you,” Elphaba said, striding over to her usual table in a corner of the room. Before the Munchkin could respond, more students filed in. They cast dirty looks at Elphaba and greeted Boq with various amounts of enthusiasm.

“Boq! Dear old chap!”

“Crope. Tibbett.” Boq nodded at the two boys who sat next to him.

“Always so formal,” Crope said with a curt nod.

“That’s our Boq,” Tibbett added with his own nod.

“We haven’t seen you in the library lately, Master Boq,” Crope said, pouting. Tibbett nodded stiffly again. Boq smacked him lightly on the head, but all three boys were grinning.

“I took the weekend off,” Boq said.

Elphaba raised an eyebrow, glancing over at the table of boys. Boq worked at the library? It was the one at the boys’ college, obviously, but still. Maybe the Munchkin wasn’t so bad after all. Of course, he was hopelessly smitten with Galinda, a fact that became even more obvious when she walked into the room and he blushed furiously. Crope and Tibbett elbowed him in the ribs and whispered in his ear. Elphaba could only imagine the things they were saying. She smirked as Boq’s blush deepened.

The professor finally quieted the room and began the lesson. Just like every other class in every other day, Elphaba was answering almost every question. She took to circling her answers in her notebook and counting to ten, slowly, before raising her hand. But even with all her delaying, she was still the only one who seemed to answer. It irked her to no end. She knew her classmates could come up with the solutions, but they just chose not to. Most of the girls were busy gossiping with each other, and most of the guys were busy watching the girls. The worst bunch, of course, was Miss Galinda and her friends in the center of the room.

Galinda was bored. She didn’t want to pay attention to the lesson, but she figured it was necessary. It was a delicate balance, really. She didn’t want to seem too smart, or as if she enjoyed her classes, but she couldn’t let her grades suffer, either. Especially not this early in the year. So she took her notes and half-listened to the teacher, just like in every other class. It would probably come back to haunt her later in the semester, around final exams, but for now she was content in her ignorance. After all, what was a couple of failed tests compared to social ranking?

Still, there was a part of her—a very _small_ part, thank you very much—that actually enjoyed math. It was vital in architecture.

Not that it mattered, of course. She cared about makeup and dresses and high society, not dusty old buildings.

The blonde pouted slightly, although she wasn’t sure whom she was pouting at. She shook her head and glanced sideways at her friends. None of them were paying attention. Shenshen was drawing loops across the top of her page, and Pfannee and Milla were giggling under their breath about something or other. She turned her focus back to the newest equation the teacher had written on the chalkboard, and then down to her notes. Her eyes narrowed slightly as she brought her pen to the paper, moving numbers around and mouthing directions to herself.

_Take that nine and multiply it by the seven, okay, now…oh, this is one of those impossible numbers, so let’s move that to the bottom of the fraction. Now these go together to make…_

After a moment, she looked up again. The classroom was quiet except for the scratching of pens against paper and a few girls’ quiet gossip.

“Come now,” the professor said, “Does anyone have a solution yet?”

Slowly, making sure her friends weren’t watching, Galinda circled the answer on her page. She knew she was right. All she had to do was raise her hand. No one else had solved the problem yet. Her hand twitched slightly…

But no. Her fingers curled into a small fist on her page. She couldn’t. What would her friends think? She could imagine the look of horror on their faces. They would call her a nerd, a know it all. No man would ever date her. No one cares for a smart girl. It was about looks, social standing— _not_ who can solve a mathematic equation.

Still, _someone_ should answer it. The blonde looked around the room, feeling a strange sort of anticipation. It had only been a minute or so since the teacher had given them the equation, but surely that was enough time. _Surely_ someone besides Galinda could find the solution. What were they waiting for? Come on, people, someone raise your hand already!

And there it was. A green hand in a small corner of the room. “Forty-eight and two tenths.” Elphaba’s voice was quiet and tinged with a slight impatience. _Maybe she’d been waiting for someone to answer, too,_ Galinda thought, glancing over at her roommate. Then she shuddered, horrified at herself for _relating_ to the green freak. _Ew ew ew ew ew!_

But still. She was glad that someone, at least, had finally answered.

 

***

 

The rest of her classes that day did _not_ come so easily.

Elphaba once again proved herself to be a complete history nerd, answering Dr. Dillamond’s every question without hesitation and, more often than not, furthering the discussions past the point where anyone else could follow. At one point, Galinda had had enough. She raised her hand with a huff.

“Ah, yes, Miss Glinda?”

The blonde scowled. “It’s _Ga_ linda _,_ professor. And what does this have to do with the lesson?”

Elphaba glared at her, but Dr. Dillamond simply nodded. “Right. Forgive me for my tangents. Now, as I was saying…”

Literature proved to be just as confusing, although Galinda caught a slight break, since she did little more than gossip with Milla during the lecture. And then in physics, she was forced to sit alone as none of her friends were in that class. That Munchkin boy, Biq or Boq or whatever, sat behind her. She could hear the stifled laughter coming from his two friends, and she only imagined what they were saying behind her back.

But worst of all was her sorcery class.

They had moved away from learning theory and basic rules and were starting to actually cast spells. Galinda walked into class practically skipping with excitement, but it didn’t last. Madame Morrible glared at her, freezing her in place, and started barking instructions.

“Today, class, we’ll be working on moving objects with magic. Observe.” Morrible squinted at a table in the middle of the room and, with a casual wave of her fingers, sent it crashing into the chalkboard.

Galinda stared. That’s what she had done to the green freak the other day, when she was pinned to the wall. It had been so simple. She didn’t even think about it—it just happened. Her heart started pounding. This was her chance. Here was a spell she already knew. It would be all too easy—and now Morrible would finally realize how talented she was!

But her excitement was short lived. It soon became apparent that she struggled with this spell just as much as the others. She glared at the wooden chair in front of her, pouring her every fiber into moving it, but nothing happened. The chair stayed absolutely still—except for the time when she lost control and just kicked it.

“That doesn’t count, Miss Galinda,” Morrible called from across the room. The blonde repressed a shriek. It didn’t make any sense! How could she throw her roommate across the room without even trying, yet she couldn’t move a stupid little chair?

It wasn’t until she was walking back to Crage Hall after class—shoulders tense and head hung low in a painful mix of frustration and shame—that an explanation came to her. When she had first cast the spell, she wanted nothing more than to throw Elphaba back. It wasn’t a conscious thought, but instinct. And it had worked. But when she focused on moving the chair, nothing had happened. The one and only time she magic had come easily to her was when she was hurting someone.

_No. I was defending myself,_ Galinda thought, crossing her arms over her chest. _And even if it did hurt her, the vegetable deserved it._

So she pushed away the guilty feelings before they could even fully form. This wasn’t the time to worry about her vile roommate. She was exhausted and frustrated and wanted nothing more than to walk into her grand bedroom back at her home in Frottica, maybe sink into a warm bath her Ama had drawn, and not worry about her failed attempts at sorcery ever again.

Instead, she stumbled into her dorm room, pointedly looking away from the green monster sitting on the bed nearest the door. The blonde dropped her purse and sank into her desk chair with a small groan.

Elphaba glanced up from her book and raised an eyebrow. “Something wrong, Miss Galinda?”

“Nothing of your concern,” Galinda snapped.

“Then you would do your best to suffer in silence.”

“Oh, you heartless old toad!”

Elphaba’s dark eyebrow knit together. “Why is it you people are always calling me a toad? Toads are usually more of a brown color. I do believe you meant to call me a _frog_.”

Galinda jumped to her feet, her small hands curled into fists at her sides. “Whatever you are, it’s no surprise all of Shiz calls you names! It’s one thing to pull pranks on each other, _Miss Elphaba_ , but to tease a girl so mercifully when she’s already upset—”

“Oh, I’m so sorry.” The green girl rolled her eyes. “Forgive me for not recognizing your petty little dramas. Shall I take a moment of silence for whatever shoe you broke this time?”

“I do not have petty dramas,” Galinda seethed. “My suffering is just as real as yours.”

Elphaba threw her book to the side and stood up to tower over Galinda. The blonde glared up at her, refusing to move an inch.

“You know nothing of suffering.” Elphaba’s voice was almost too quiet to hear. “You’re a spoiled little brat who gets everything she asks for. Don’t you dare talk to me about _suffering_. You don’t know the meaning of the word.”

She turned and headed back for her bed, but Galinda wasn’t about to admit defeat so easily.

“At least I’m not asking for it!” she cried. The green girl froze. Slowly, she looked over her shoulder.

“Excuse me?”

Galinda’s hands were trembling, but she held her ground. “Every problem you have, you brought on yourself. You’re rude and bitter, a know-it-all, and you pull wicked pranks—why would anyone like you? Maybe you have more problems than I do, Elphaba Thropp, but it’s no one’s fault but your own!”

The blonde thought for sure that her roommate was going to kill her right then and there. Elphaba glared at her viciously, dark eyes searing holes into her, but she didn’t say anything. Instead, she turned on her heel and walked out, slamming the door so hard that the entire room shook.

Galinda knew she had won, but if anything, it only made her feel worse. She crawled into bed distractedly, forgetting to even change into a nightgown. She blew out the lamp, wondering what was waiting for her when her roommate returned.


	9. Chapter 9

_Stupid blonde…doesn’t know what she’s talking about…would’ve been fine if she had just left me alone at the beginning of the year._

Elphaba spun around and kicked the door she was standing by. It gave a satisfying shudder, and now the throbbing in her foot was enough to distract her from her anger. With a small groan, she sat down on the front steps of the building. She didn’t even know where she was—she had stormed out of Crage Hall in a blind rage, focusing all her energy on keeping her magic under control. Oz knows what would have happened if she had stayed with her roommate any longer…

“Miss Elphaba?”

The green girl jumped up at the sound of the voice. Dr. Dillamond stepped out of the building and closed the door gently behind him. “Miss Elphaba, is everything all right?”

Elphaba avoided her teacher’s eyes as she wiped the dust off her clothes. “Of course, sir. Why wouldn’t it be?”

The Goat’s mouth worked beneath his beard as he regarded her. “Would you like some tea?”

“I—what?”

“Tea, Miss Elphaba. I always have a cup in the evenings, and it would be lovely to have some company. Would you join me?”

Her first instinct was to refuse, but something held her tongue. Dr. Dillamond, her favorite teacher, one of the greatest scholars in Oz, was inviting her to tea. Except…

“I…don’t drink tea, Professor.”

“I have cold cider as well.” The Goat’s eyes twinkled. “I insist, Miss Elphaba.”

Elphaba swallowed and nodded, slowly following Dr. Dillamond back into the building. He led her to his office—a small room with little more than a cluttered desk, a wardrobe that held more books than clothes, and a pile of blankets in the corner, beneath a tiny window—and motioned for her to have a seat as he poured the drinks. There was silence as they both settled, sitting across the desk from each other. Elphaba kept her eyes on her glass.

“How have your classes been, Miss Elphaba?”

“Good.” She cleared her throat, hoping she didn’t sound as nervous as she felt.

“Most of my colleagues speak very highly of you,” the Goat said with a smile. “But what about your roommate? How have you been getting along?”

“Everything’s been fine, sir.”

“I see. So going around campus kicking things is simply your way of celebrating how wonderful things are.”

The green girl flinched, but Dr. Dillamond’s eyes were still regarding her warmly. “Miss Elphaba, I sense you’re not the type to open up to others. I’m not going to make you do anything. But I do want you to know that if you ever do want to talk, I will always listen.”

Elphaba forced her mouth to curl into a smirk. “With all due respect, Dr. Dillamond, there are those who would say I already talk too much in your class.”

“Ah yes, well, those with something will always be regarded bitterly by those without.”

Elphaba looked startled at that. What in Oz did she have that those other girls didn’t? Something must have shown on her face, for the Goat simply smiled at her. “ _Passion_ , Miss Elphaba. Purpose. You are your own person in a world where others are taught—and even persecuted—to conform.” Dr. Dillamond stood suddenly. “I’m going on a walk. It seems like a decent enough night. Would you care to join me? I’m most curious about continuing the conversation we started in class today, about the truces of Animal-led clans in the ancient Vinkus.”

Elphaba didn’t know exactly what to do, so she nodded and stood, setting her full glass down and following her professor out of the room.

 

***

 

A sharp rapping on the door made Galinda jump. She bolted upright, drawing the blanket around herself. She hadn’t been sleeping—how could she with the murderous look Elphaba had given her still burning into her mind?—but the room was dark and quiet, and the sudden noise had sent her heart pounding in her chest. The blonde sat still and listened. Who had knocked? Had Elphaba locked herself out? Well, that monster could just sleep in the hallway for all Galinda cared.

But…what if this was one of her tricks? What horror was waiting for her outside the door?

The knock came again, this time accompanied by a giggle. Galinda’s eyes widened. Definitely not Elphaba.

She rushed to the door and opened it to find Pfannee and Milla and Shenshen.

“What took you so long?” Pfannee demanded.

“I was fixing my makeup in the bathroom,” Galinda said with a shrug.

“Is the green bean here?” Shenshen asked quietly, leaning around Pfannee to peer into the room. Galinda shook her head.

“I haven’t seen her since class today.” She wasn’t sure why, but the thought of talking about her last fight with the green girl made her slightly sick. “Anyway, what’s going on? It’s almost dark. Why are you here?”

Milla and Pfannee shared a glance before giggling again. Shenshen grinned. “There’s a new student at Shiz. He’s arriving soon. Oh, you should hear the thing they’re saying about him, Galinda. Someone said he—”

“Hush, Shenshen!” Pfannee said, waving her arm at the other girl to cut her off. “Let her see for herself.”

“See what for myself?” Galinda asked, pouting slightly.

“Come on!” Milla grabbed Galinda’s wrist and tugged. “We’re going to be late if we don’t hurry!”

The blonde was still confused, but she shook her head and ducked back into her room to pull on a pair of heels and grab her purse. Within seconds she had rejoined her friends, and the four of them dashed out of Crage Hall to the entrance gates.

Students, mostly girls, had begun to crowd around in the square, standing on tiptoes to catch a glimpse of the iron gates. Galinda caught bits of conversation as she followed the others to the front of the growing mass.

“A new student, you said?”

“Why is he coming late?”

“Where is he from?”

“I heard—”

“Shh! Look!”

Galinda peered through the dying light toward the sound of wheels against cobblestone. An elaborate carriage, painted deep brown and fiery orange and decorated in strange carvings, rolled into sight. The horse pulling it was tall and bulky, colored like midnight. A hush fell over the onlookers as the cab slowed to a halt.

“Pardon me. Excuse me. Let me through, if you please.” Madame Morrible broke through the front of the crowd and hurried toward the carriage, frantically straightening her dress and hair—a lost cause, Galinda thought.

Morrible beamed and shuffled forward, blocking the view as the carriage door creaked open. “Welcome to Shiz, Master Tiggular.” She said with a slight bow. The girls exchanged a look. Morrible was sucking up to a student? Who was this kid?

The Madame Head snapped her fingers at a couple of boys in the front of the crowd. “You there, Masters Avaric and Boq. Come help with Master Tiggular’s bags.”

“That’s alright,” a voice said. A boy jumped down from the cab. “And call me Fiyero, please.”

The crowd erupted in whispers.

“That skin!”

“Are those tattoos?”

“He’s _handsome_ ,” Pfannee said delightedly. Galinda took a couple of steps forward, desperately trying to get a better view. To say that Fiyero was handsome would be an understatement. His skin was a rich brown, except for a trail of tattooed, bright blue diamonds that gleamed in the sunlight. His silky dark hair hung messily above his face, and his eyes sparkled golden as he looked around the square. His lips curled into a mischievous half-smile as he took in all the attention.

“Why does he look like that?” Milla asked. “So…exotic.”

“He’s from the Vinkus!” a girl beside them whispered. “ _And_ I heard he’s some sort of royalty there.”

“Really?” Galinda asked, staring back at the boy with wonder. “A Winkie prince…”

Across the square, Elphaba and Dr. Dillamond had come to a stop between two buildings.

“You’d think a celebrity was arriving, the way they’re all crowding around,” Elphaba muttered.

Dr. Dillamond chuckled into his beard. “I wouldn’t be so quick to judge, my dear. Even the teachers have been talking about this new student. A prince from the Vinkus, they say he is.”

Despite herself, Elphaba was intrigued. Shiz was made almost entirely of Munchkinlanders and Gillikinese. In fact, she was sure that she was the only student here who had ever been to Quadling Country. To have another person who was well-traveled…

But still. She spotted Galinda and her friends on the other side of the square, practically swooning as they stared at the new boy. She didn’t say anything out loud, not with Dr. Dillamond standing right there, but she found the whole thing completely pathetic.

Something caught the corner of Galinda’s eye, and she turned to see what it was. Her despicable roommate was standing at the edge of the crowd, her dark eyes hard as she took in the gathering. Galinda swallowed and looked back at Fiyero, but it wasn’t as easy to admire him now. Something about the smirk on Elphaba’s face was making her awfully nervous.


	10. Chapter 10

It wasn’t long before all of Shiz knew the Vinkan boy’s name. _Fiyero_ was being whispered in every corner of every dormitory, dining hall, and classroom. Elphaba would have enjoyed the fact that the attention was no longer on her if it weren’t for one little problem.

Her roommate never shut up.

“And those _eyes!_ ” Galinda sighed and collapsed onto her thick pink bed. The Winkie prince was everything she had ever dreamed of. Tall, exotic, gorgeous—not to mention, a _prince_.

“Miss Galinda, if you insist upon drooling like a doe-eyed mutt, at least keep it to yourself. _Some_ of us are busy with more important things.”

The blonde propped herself up on her elbows and glared at her roommate, who was bent over a stack of books and journals at her desk. “I don’t see why you’re so worried, Miss Elphaba. What’s the point of studying when you’re already an obnoxious know-it-all?”

Elphaba rolled her eyes. She knew she should have gone to the library. Being in her roommate’s presence was getting more difficult each day, a fact not helped at all by the visits of the rest of those girls, which were growing more and more common.

A knock on the door caused Galinda to squeal and leap from her bed. “Speak of the devil,” Elphaba muttered, turning back to her work.

“Besides,” Galinda continued as she went to the door. “Even you must be at least a _tiny_ bit interested in Master Fiyero.”

The green girl chose not to respond. Whatever eagerness she had felt at the Vinkan’s arrival had long since vanished. Instead of a well-educated, seasoned traveler, the prince had turned out to be as arrogant and dimwitted as the rest of Oz’s upper class society. It was no wonder the blonde swooned over him so.

Galinda opened the door and hugged her friends. “Give me just a moment, ladies. I’ll be right out.” She scurried off into the bathroom to touch up her makeup before going out, leaving her three friends hovering uncertainly in the doorway. They cast uneasy glances at Elphaba, who refused to look up from her work.

“What are _you_ doing here?” Pfannee asked.

“Miss Pfannee,” Elphaba sighed without turning around, “We’ve been through this before. You see, I _live_ here.”

“Funny,” Pfannee replied, “I thought you lived at the library.”

“Believe me, the company is a lot better there. But unfortunately, it is against the school’s policy to let people sleep between bookshelves.”

“What a shame.”

“Now that, my dear Miss Shenshen, is something we can agree on.”

Shenshen looked disgusted, but before any of them could respond, Galinda was back and shooing them out of the room. “Come along, leave the green bean to her…whatever it is she does. We’ve got a prince to go meet up with!”

The door shut behind them, and Elphaba let out a sigh of relief. While they hadn’t gotten into a fight as bad as the one the night Fiyero arrived, the roommates still despised one another, and they still took every chance they had to show it. The bubbly blonde’s presence was enough to make Elphaba feel sick after a while.

And she still hadn’t thought of a way to get revenge on them for taking her mother’s bottle. If she didn’t fight back now, they’d never leave her alone. She needed to teach them that messing with her would be a serious mistake.

But _how?_ The green girl jumped up from her desk and began pacing the room, eyeing Galinda’s side with mild disgust. She didn’t want to actually hurt the girls. She wasn’t cruel. But simply scaring them wouldn’t work, either. They’d strike back, and the entire thing would never end. And to add to it all, the entire school was on their side.

Elphaba shook her head, then grabbed her key and slipped out the door. She needed to think, and being cooped up with all of her roommate’s things wasn’t helping.

It was a gorgeous afternoon, fading slowly into a lovely evening. No wonder the girls all wanted to go out. Elphaba wondered vaguely if, had she been born with normal skin, she would be with that group.

_Oz, I hope not,_ she thought to herself. She liked to think that her intelligence and her morals would still be her two greatest assets, vegetable or not.

Just as she was passing the café, a voice pulled her out of her musings. “Miss Elphaba!”

Had it been any other voice on campus, she would have kept walking. But something about the Munchkin boy intrigued her—he was tolerable, at least—so she altered her path to walk closer to his table.

“Master Boq,” she greeted him. “Tell me, have your friends put something in your water? Why else would you dare call out to Shiz’s most hated resident?”

As usual, Boq didn’t know quite how to respond to her. So instead he cleared his throat and gestured at the other two boys sitting with him. “This is Crope and Tibbett, and I assure you they did not poison my water.”

Crope pouted a little, turning toward Tibbett. “We didn’t? How boring of us.”

“Thanks for the idea, though,” Tibbett said, winking at Elphaba. The green girl fought the urge to smile. It wasn’t exactly pleasant conversation, but it wasn’t hateful or bitter, either.

“Where are you off to tonight, Miss Elphaba?” Boq asked.

Elphaba rolled her eyes. “Why does it matter? Or are you actually trying to figure out my dear roommate’s plans for the evening?”

“Perhaps I am genuinely interested.”

“Yes, and perhaps I am not Shiz’s most hated resident.”

“Perhaps not,” Tibbett said, rubbing his chin as if thinking hard. “Let’s think. Who here is loathed even more than the green bean?”

Crope grinned. “Perhaps that dear Madame Head? Morrible?”

Elphaba glared at them, despising the idea of being compared to Morrible. “Yes, well, I thank you for this less than delightful conversation, but I must be on my way.” She strode off, gritting her teeth. Curse her roommate, curse all those girls, curse every student in this Oz-damned school. She couldn’t hold a decent conversation for more than twenty seconds without the words _green bean_ or _vegetable_ or—

“Elphaba!” A hand touched her elbow, but she jerked away. “Miss Elphaba, please let me apologize for their behavior.”

For some unknown reason, Elphaba stopped. Boq stepped forward so that he was facing her. “Crope and Tibbett mean no harm, I assure you. That’s just how they are. You should hear half the things they say to me.”

“Why are you justifying them to me? Why should I care?” Elphaba spat the words at him. She neither wanted nor needed an apology. It’s not like she would ever talk to those fools again.

Boq sighed, rubbing his forehead in frustration. “I don’t know. Maybe I just wanted to be a decent person.”

She snorted. “Those are rather rare, Master Boq. Don’t you think?” Then another thought occurred to her. “You dropped the honorific.”

“What?”

“Just now, you dropped the honorific on my name. You called me Elphaba.”

It was Boq’s turn to roll his eyes. “That is your name, isn’t it? But if it offends you so, I won’t do it again.”

Elphaba didn’t quite know why this revelation mattered to her. In fact, this entire conversation was bordering on something she didn’t quite understand. So she smoothed out her skirt and stepped around Boq.

“Either way, I must be going now. Apology accepted for your friends’ behavior. But from now on, it might be best for both of us if you didn’t try to…well, do whatever it is you’re trying to do.”

“Be a decent person?”

This time she couldn’t quite hide her grin. “I suppose so.” She began to move away, but then stopped and turned around again. “I must ask, Master Boq.”

“Yes, Miss Elphaba?”

“My dear roommate and her friends are running about tonight. Why in Oz are you not chasing after them?”

The Munchkin scowled down at his feet. “Ah, see…well, they’re with that Winkie fellow, and…”

For a moment, her face softened. The Munchkin was as smitten with Galinda as Galinda was with Fiyero. Elphaba couldn’t help but feel sorry for him. After all, she knew what it was like to be on the outside.

“I may not be an expert on the female race,” she began, “But I’ve never heard of a rule that there can be only one male in a social group. In fact, that seems quite absurd. Besides, that Avaric prat has been wandering around with them, has he not?”

“I suppose I could…”

Elphaba shrugged and wandered off before any more could be said between her and the Munchkin. Boq was too preoccupied with the possibility of seeing Galinda again to pay her any attention as she wandered down the sidewalk and out of sight.

He had, however, given her an idea. If only she knew how to make it work…

 

***

 

Galinda knew that life at Shiz was going to be perfect, and here was the proof. It was a gorgeous day. The lake was sparkling in the sunlight, the breeze was just enough to keep her cool without messing up her hair or dress, and Fiyero was walking right next to her!

“So you’re from Frottica?” he said. Galinda smiled at the sound of his rich, smooth voice. “That’s pretty high society.”

She giggled and waved her hand nonchalantly. “Oh, yes, I suppose we’re a ways up there. My parents are Lord and Lady, you know, and we’ve always been pretty well off. But I’m sure that’s nothing compared to a prince.”

Fiyero chuckled, pushing his hair back with his hand. “Actually, it’s a bit different in the Vinkus. Sure, I’m royalty. But my life’s not that different from everyone else’s in the tribe. Well, except for when we go up to Kiamo Ko.”

“Kiamo Ko?” Milla asked, staring at him longingly. Shenshen had to suppress a giggle at the look on her face.

“It’s our castle, in the northern part of the Kells. But we rarely go there anymore.”

“Why ever not?” Pfannee said, blinking her eyes innocently. Galinda resisted the urge to scowl at her. What did she need to hang all over Fiyero for? She’d been hanging on Avaric all afternoon.

But Fiyero just shrugged. “It’s just not our way, I suppose. We’re needed more in the tribes.”

_A noble prince,_ Galinda smiled to herself. He was perfect. But she shook herself out of her thoughts. “So, Master Fiyero,” she said sweetly. “Is there anywhere else around Shiz we can show you?”

Fiyero looked up at the setting sun. “Actually, I’d love to see the town. Seems to me like there’s nothing to do on this campus but lie around in the grass all day.”

“That doesn’t seem so bad to me,” Avaric said, smirking down at Pfannee. Galinda did her best not to gag.

Fiyero, however, appeared not to have heard him. “I’m guessing we’ll have to wait for another time, though.”

The other three girls pouted, but Galinda jumped at the chance to get out and about. “That sounds lovely! We could plan a daytrip for this weekend. Oh, we could rent a carriage to pick us up, and—”

“And we could go shopping!” Milla squealed, clapping her hands together.

Shenshen nodded. “I heard Shiz always has booths full of wonders, especially on the weekend!”

“And we can eat at the Peach and Kidneys afterward,” Galinda finished.

“Or we could go to the Philosophy Club,” Avaric smirked.

“Absolutely not!” Galinda exclaimed. “No proper citizen should ever step foot in a place like that!”

“Oh, relax Galinda,” Pfannee said. “Avaric was just kidding.”

The blonde relented, but as they were walking away she could hear Avaric very clearly, whispering in Fiyero’s ear. “Don’t worry, Master Fiyero. Me and the guys will get you there sooner or later.”

 

***

 

Now that a date was set, Galinda couldn’t stop bouncing with joy. She talked about it nonstop—what should she wear? do these heels go with this dress? how should she do her hair?—to anyone who was in the room, including her deeply disinterested roommate.

Normally, Elphaba would have found a way to shut the blonde up by now, but an idea was brewing in her mind. If the others were even half as excited about this as Galinda was…

Later that week found her sitting in the mathematics room twenty minutes before class, scribbling furiously into a spare notebook. She could get more of the sticking solution easily enough. But how would she know which table was theirs? She would have to scope the place out beforehand. And their food… was there any way she could sabotage their meals?

_I bet there’s an easy spell that could take care of that,_ she thought. Her fist immediately clenched around her pen. No, absolutely not. She wouldn’t use magic in front of her roommate ever again. Not if she could help it.

“Why Miss Elphaba. You’re here awfully early.”

The green girl quickly shut her notebook and looked at the newcomer. “Ah, Master Boq. How goes the winning over my roommate’s heart?”

A sour look crossed the Munchkin’s face. “She’s head over heels for that Winkie prince. I never stood a chance.”

“It’s just as well,” Elphaba said snidely. “Even you could do better than that pompous, overly manicured blonde.”

“Don’t insult her!” Boq crossed his arms over his chest and scowled at her. “Miss Galinda is a fine lady, and she deserves the best in the world.”

Elphaba rolled her eyes. “We’ll have to agree to disagree on that, Master Boq.”

Boq looked like he was going to protest, but instead he shut his mouth again and looked at the table she was sitting at. “What’s this?” he asked, eyeing her closed notebook. “You seemed rather frantic when I walked in. Surely you’re not finishing your homework at the last minute?”

“Don’t be absurd,” she said easily. “I’m just working on some extra credit for Dr. Dillamond.”

“Of course,” Boq said, shaking his head with a smile. “I should have known. You and the old Goat seem to work well together.”

“He’s a brilliant scholar,” Elphaba replied coolly.

“Did I ever say he wasn’t?” Boq asked. “He’s a genius. I daresay that class is my favorite.”

The green girl raised one dark eyebrow. “Even if it’s taught by an Animal?”

“Do you really think me so narrow-minded?” Boq asked, his eyes widening. “Miss Elphaba, I’m insulted!”

“Insulted? Come back when they’re all pointing at your skin.”

He nodded, his face suddenly serious. “I used to think being short was bad enough. But at any rate, it’s my belief that the appearance of a teacher matters little compared to what they know and how well they can teach it.” With that, the Munchkin turned and went to his own desk a few rows up.

Elphaba watched him go, trying not to admit, even to herself, how much she’d underestimated him. “Master Boq?” she questioned, hoping that it would still be a couple of minutes before the rest of the class arrived.

“Yes, Miss Elphaba?”

She hesitated, unsure of how to ask her question without giving herself away. “I was… curious. My roommate appears to be going on some sort of outing this weekend with her friends. Were you going with them?”

Boq looked at her strangely, but if he was suspicious then he didn’t mention it. “Avaric has mentioned it a couple of times, but I turned down his offer. I’m, uh, not ready to be around Miss Galinda yet.”

Well, that was something at least. But as she looked at the Munchkin, she felt something close to pity. While she was starting to think that Boq deserved much better than the airhead that roomed with her, she hated seeing someone give up hope so quickly.

“You know, Boq, she hasn’t chosen Fiyero yet. Oz, she’s only just met the fool. Don’t sit down while the race is still on.”

The Munchkin shook his head, but he gave her a smile. “Not all of us have the same drive as you, Miss Elphaba.” He turned to sit down, and before she could form an answer the room was filling with other students. The green girl leaned back in her chair, watching the back of the Munchkin’s head closely. _What in Oz did he mean by that?_

 

***

 

The Peach and Kidneys was a charming little café near the center of town. Its somewhat dusty glass window and old wooden doorway caused it to blend in with the rest of the tiny shops and bustling booths that made up Shiz. The perfect place for an outing with friends, Elphaba concluded as she walked through the front door.

It was the day before Galinda and her friends were supposed to go out, and Elphaba was still desperate for ideas. Why she was putting so much effort into this, she didn’t know. But she had three jars of sticking solution in her bag and a large package of Ozcar’s Invisible Staining Powder. Ozcar’s line of “harmless” pranking supplies was just one of the many useful things she had learned from the children who had tormented her growing up.

Still, it didn’t seem like enough. And she didn’t even know how she was going to get everything on the right table. The green girl stood uncertainly near the doorway, looking around the room. It was surprisingly large compared to what the outside seemed like. Still, she doubted she could sneak in and out while Galinda and her friends were here.

What to do?

Before she could get too frustrated, she spotted something that distracted her completely. An Owl was moving from table to table, sweeping dirty dishes into a cart with a quick brush of her wing or gripping handles of platters and pitchers with her talons. She flew about the restaurant so expertly, taking orders without needing to write them down and bringing out plates faster than Elphaba had ever seen any human server.

Even so, it was clear that some customers were not a fan of being served by an Animal. A particularly hard-faced man was glaring at the Owl. She flew by, and with a quick, almost imperceptible jerk of his hand, his drink went off the table, shattering at his feet.

The room fell silent, everyone turning to look. The man jumped to his feet, a stream of curses flying from his mouth.

“You stupid beast! Look what you’ve done! That was a perfectly good bottle of beer, and now it’s all over my shoes!”

The Owl hovered uncertainly in midair. “I’m very sorry, sir. I can bring you another drink right away, and a towel for your—”

“No, no!” he growled. “I want no help from some dumb animal! I demand to see the manager at once!”

The Owl clicked her beak anxiously. “The manager’s gone for the day, sir. But I assure you, if you just let me get a towel, there will be no harm done.”

“No harm done? Oh no! You won’t get away with—”

“Enough!” Elphaba strode over to the table, ignoring the audible gasps that sounded around the café. “Why are you torturing this poor Owl? It’s not her fault—I _saw_ you knock over that bottle. She’s clearly an excellent server. What’s your problem?”

The man was too shocked to form a coherent response. “You—you’re—green!”

Elphaba rolled her eyes. “Really? I hadn’t noticed.”

“What in Oz _are_ you?”

The green girl clenched her teeth. She was a _who_ , not a _what._ But to point this out would be a waste of time, so she just glared at the man with all the bitterness and rage she could muster. “Your worst nightmare. Now pay for your food and get out.”

Surprisingly enough, the man frantically dug into his pockets, poured a handful of gold onto the table, and scurried off. Even more surprisingly, the rest of the customers soon went back to their meals. After a few moments, the hum of conversation was back to normal.

The Owl landed on the table and cocked her head to the side. “Who are you?” she asked.

Elphaba looked away. “No one of consequence.” Great. Here she was, trying to booby trap a booth, and instead she was having a conversation with one of the workers.

“Well how can I thank you if I don’t know your name?” the Owl asked quietly.

“…Elphaba.”

She dipped her feathery head. “Well, Elphaba, that was very kind of you. While the Peach and Kidneys is, for the most part, still free of outright prejudice, I doubt very many people would stand up for me like you did.” She looked down at the table and picked up a piece of gold. “I also doubt anyone could scare a man like that into leaving twice the amount he owed.”

Elphaba’s lips twitched. “Did he really?”

“Well, it’s not every day you meet a self-proclaimed nightmare, now is it?” The Owl’s eyes twinkled kindly. “I’m Ayla, by the way.”

“It’s nice to meet you, Ayla,” Elphaba said, tilting her head.

“You as well. Now, how can I help you? Will you be dining alone this afternoon?”

“What?” Elphaba looked around. “Oh, no, I’m not eating. I was…um…”

Ayla cocked her head to the side again. “If you’re not here to eat, then what brings you to the Peach and Kidneys?”

If she didn’t think of something now, she would miss her chance completely. In that split second, Elphaba decided to go out on a limb. “It’s kind of a long story. You see, a…well, someone I’m not too fond of is going to be dining here tomorrow, and…”

“Let me guess, you’re a university student?” Ayla clicked her beak at Elphaba’s stunned expression, but this time it seemed more out of amusement than annoyance. “You’re not the first one to come around here looking to pull a prank. However, I daresay you’re the first one to pull an act of kindness first. May I ask what you’re trying to do, or should I leave you to your own devices?”

Elphaba shut her mouth to keep it from hanging open like a fool. “You mean…you would just leave me here to wreak havoc?”

Ayla winked. “I owe you one, don’t I? Besides, my guess is this is more revenge than instigation.”

“You could say that,” Elphaba muttered. Then an idea struck her. “Wait, would you be willing to help me?”

Ayla’s wings fluttered nervously. “That…would depend on what you wanted to do.”

Elphaba pushed a strand of hair out of her face. “Well, I don’t know what table they’ll be at or anything. I need someone on the inside, you know? Besides, I have no doubt in my mind that you’ll want to do something. This group is sure to be as rude as that man.”

“Elphaba, while I’m sure you’re trying to do what you think these kids deserve, I can’t help you. I don’t want to mess with innocent customers.”

Elphaba thought hard. “Okay, how about this. I mess with one table, and you just make sure that’s the table they end up sitting at.”

Ayla considered it for a moment. “This group…they’ve hurt you before, haven’t they?”

Elphaba crossed her arms over her chest and made her expression smooth. “They don’t matter enough to hurt me.”

Something in the Owl’s face told her she didn’t quite believe her. Still, she sighed. “Alright. This table right here will work. Have at it, and I’ll make sure the next person to sit in it is this enemy of yours. What do they look like?”

Elphaba started digging through her bag. “There will be four girls, all as pathetic and giggly as you can get. One of them will be a tiny, bubbly blonde. You’ll know her when you see her; she’s unbelievably annoying. Oh, and there’ll be a Vinkan with them.”

“A Winkie?” Ayla asked, surprised.

“Yeah. Dark skin, with blue diamond tattoos. If you can, make sure he doesn’t have to deal with any of this.”

Ayla’s eyes narrowed. “Trying to win him over?” she asked.

Elphaba snorted, pulling out supplies and leaning under the table. “He’s already proven himself to be a brainless oaf. No, I’m indifferent toward him. But he hasn’t done anything against me.” _Yet,_ she added mentally.

After a few minutes, she straightened up and stuffed the leftover trash back into her bag. “That should do it,” she said. “I apologize in advance for whatever way they treat you.”

“Well, if I need to, I’ll just add a few pranks of my own. It might not be the first time.” With a wink, she stretched out her wings and lifted off the table. “Have a good day, Elphaba. And thank you again.” Ayla flew off, back toward the kitchen. Elphaba watched her go, wondering why it was easier to be around Animals than it was her own classmates.


	11. Chapter 11

Elphaba was grinning when she woke up the next morning. It was still early—just barely dawn—but she was too excited to stay in bed. Besides, she had planned to be out of the room before Galinda woke up. She wouldn’t want to be in her roommate’s way on such an important day.

She rolled silently out of bed and quietly began tucking the sheets back into place. Then she straightened up, casting a glance over to Galinda’s side of the room. The blonde was still fast asleep, curled up peacefully beneath her blankets. Elphaba rolled her eyes and moved over to her dresser. She changed into one of her plain black frocks and pulled on a pair of boots.

After she was dressed, she grabbed her bag and stuffed a few books and journals into it. She grabbed a couple of spare candles and matches from her desk and packed them as well, along with a flask to fill up at the café. While she was mostly just trying to avoid her roommate’s wrath at the end of the day, she was also excited to spend the entire night in the library. It hadn’t taken her long to figure out that the workers barely checked to make sure everyone was gone before locking up for the night. It would be all too easy to hide in a back corner somewhere until everyone left.

Today would indeed be relaxing. Just walking around, enjoying the campus, and keeping to herself. She didn’t even have to worry about running into her roommate and that entire pack of snobs. With another grin, Elphaba tucked her room key into her pocket and slipped out the door, making sure to slam it loudly behind her.

Galinda woke with a start. She propped herself on one elbow and glared at the closed door. It was far too early to be up, yet her roommate had insisted on making an obnoxious exit. _What a despicable, horrendous green monster,_ the blonde thought bitterly. Then, suddenly, she remembered what day it was.

She jumped up from bed and ran to the bathroom, eager to get started on her outfit and makeup. An entire day off of campus, with just her and her friends—including and especially Fiyero. And to top it all off, she wouldn’t have to see or think about the green bean all day long!

Eleven dresses, seven shades of eye shadow, four purses, and two pairs of heels later, Galinda finally thought she looked perfect. She twirled a little in front of her mirror and beamed at her reflection. Today was going to be perfect.

Pfannee, Milla, and Shenshen came knocking on her door around noon, and they met up with Fiyero at one of the cafés on campus for lunch.

“Avaric apologizes,” Fiyero said as he took the chair next to Galinda. “He won’t be able to make it today.”

Pfannee looked a little put out. Galinda had no idea what she saw in Avaric—the boy was improper and vile—but she decided not to point this out. If Pfannee wanted to pursue Master Avaric, that just meant that there was one less person trying to get Fiyero’s attention.

After the lunch the group met their carriage at the front gates. Galinda didn’t bother looking back at the campus as the driver clicked the reins and headed off. It was about time she left the stuffy old school—disgusting green residents included—behind for a day. She practically bounced in her seat as they rode down the cobblestone street into town.

“So Fiyero,” Shenshen started shyly, “How have your classes been?”

Fiyero clasped his hands behind his neck and leaned back. “How should I know? I’ve barely paid attention in any of them.”

The girls giggled. “Why ever not?” Galinda asked innocently.

“I figure they’ve already started without me, so what’s the point? I might try harder next semester… but then again, maybe not.”

“Oh!” Pfannee squealed, sitting up straight. “Have you had any classes with the green bean yet?”

Galinda scowled slightly, torn between wanting to gossip about her roommate and never wanting to mention her again. Fiyero raised his eyebrows.

“That emerald girl?” he asked. “I’ve seen her around, yeah. She’s kind of hard to miss.”

“She’s a _monster_ ,” Milla whispered. “You should hear the terrible things she’s done this year.”

Fiyero let out a laugh. “She’s terrorized you that much already?”

“She’s Miss Galinda’s roommate,” Shenshen said knowingly. “What a horrible thing she is, too.”

Galinda huffed. “Destroying my belongings, threatening us. She even used magic once, you know.”

Fiyero was beginning to look more serious. He leaned forward slightly. “You don’t say? And here I thought she was just an innocent freak.”

“Hardly,” Pfannee sniffed. “Haven’t you heard any of the rumors? There are even those that say she killed her own mother, in some magical freak accident.”

Now Galinda shifted uncomfortably, remembering how strongly Elphaba had reacted to having her mother’s bottle stolen.

It came as a relief when the carriage pulled up to the main square of town. The friends all piled out, and Fiyero tipped the driver, flipping a gold coin up at him with a wink. “Alright ladies,” he said, turning back toward them. “Where to first?”

The next several hours were spent moving from booth to booth, running their hands over fabrics and holding up dresses or shoes or jewelry to show them off. Fiyero was a good sport the entire time—something Galinda swooned over—and they did their best to include them. Shenshen picked out a nice pair of riding gloves for him to try on. Pfannee and Milla oohed and aahed at various daggers or crossbows he held up. And while the other three were haggling over necklace prices at another booth, Galinda walked with him through the stables.

“Oh, look!” she said, moving over to a stall that held a particularly fine mare. “This one looks pretty good for riding. Not for carriages or much luggage, though. But for recreational, I’ll bet she’s fantastic. And just look at those markings—she’s gorgeous!”

“You’ve got quite the eye for horses, Miss Galinda,” said Fiyero.

She smiled shyly up at him. “My family owns a few back in Frottica. I used to ride and take care of them as a little girl.”

He grinned cheekily. “And here I thought you Gillikin girls only played with dolls and dresses.”

Galinda shuffled her feet a little. “Well, we played with those, too.” With another tiny smile, she led him out of the stables and back to the main part of the square. They met up with the others and decided to head over to the Peach and Kidneys.

An Owl greeted them when they walked into the restaurant. Galinda had to hold back a noise of disgust, and it was clear that Pfannee, Milla, and Shenshen had the same reactions. Fiyero, however, didn’t seem to mind. The Owl led them over to a table in the front half of the room. There wasn’t enough room for all of them in the booth, so she pulled up a chair for Fiyero. The girls settled down neatly and ordered their drinks. Galinda didn’t bother saying please or thank you, since it was only an Animal serving them.

As soon as their waitress was gone, they all leaned in close and began whispering.

“An _Animal_ ,” Milla said, horrified. “What kind of establishment is this?”

“I wouldn’t be surprised if our food is full of feathers,” Pfannee scoffed.

Fiyero’s lips twitched into a half-smile. “Come now, ladies, she’s just a waitress. It could be worse. It’s not like she’s some high-standing member of society. There’s no need to be rude.”

Shenshen raised her eyebrows. “No need to be rude? We’re being served by a beast!”

“I suppose things are different in the Vinkus,” he said, sitting back.

The Owl returned a few minutes later. “About time,” Pfannee muttered as they were handed their drinks. The Owl cocked her head a bit.

“My name’s Ayla, and I’ll be serving you all today,” she said. “Are you ready to order, or should I give you a few more minutes?”

“I think we’re ready,” Fiyero said, giving the Owl a smile.

“Aren’t you going to write it down?” Milla asked rudely.

Ayla clicked her beak. “I can remember it. Now, what can I get for you?”

True to her word, the Owl brought out their orders accurately. But as the meal went on, Galinda and the others continually forgot their manners.

“You there, Owl!” Pfannee called whenever they had finished eating. “Get rid of these dirty dishes. Also, we would like some wine and custard for dessert.”

“Right away,” Ayla said, sweeping the dishes into a cart with her wing. She flew off to the kitchen.

“Does anyone have some spare change for a tip?” Shenshen asked, looking through her purse.

“You would tip an Animal?” Milla asked, her eyes widening.

The other girl immediately stopped. “Well…I suppose not…”

Ayla soon returned with four glasses of wine and four small bowls of custard. She also dropped the check on their table and flew off without another word. Fiyero grabbed the slip and piled some money onto it.

“What a gentleman,” Galinda said, batting her eyes.

“Disgusting!” Pfannee cried out. She dropped her spoon as the others all looked at her. “This custard is absolutely revolting!”

“Perhaps it’s just your bowl, Miss Pfannee,” Shenshen said. “I’ve been here before with my parents, and I remember it being quite delicious.”

“Try it, then,” Pfannee challenged, glaring at her. Shenshen shrugged and took a bite.

“Dear _Oz_ ,” she said, gagging. “What in the—”         

Milla tried her own as well, but then quickly grabbed her napkin and coughed into it. Galinda giggled. “Well I guess I know not to try mine,” she said, taking a sip of her wine. But the liquid burned viciously in her throat. She began coughing violently, and it was all she could do not to spit the drink everywhere. “Lurline, that’s terrible!” she cried.

Fiyero raised an eyebrow as he drank out of his own glass. “I taste nothing wrong.” He picked up his spoon and tried his custard as well. “Nope, nothing. Are you ladies sure there’s something wrong?”

Milla took a cautious sip of her wine and immediately spit it out. “I think I’m going to be sick,” she said, leaping up from the table and running to the bathroom.

“What in Oz—that Owl!” Pfannee shrieked, rising from her seat. “She’s poisoned our—”

“My dear Miss Pfannee,” Fiyero said calmly. “If the Owl poisoned our food and drink, why would mine be untouched? It was probably just a bad batch. Please, you’re causing a scene.”

But that didn’t seem right to Galinda. Something was off. She didn’t realize what, however, until Milla came back.

“Miss Milla, your dress!” Shenshen gasped. They all leaned over to look. Sure enough, the skirt of Milla’s dress—which had been pale blue at the beginning of the day—was now stained a bright green color.

Galinda could feel the blood leaving her face. Slowly, she slid out of the booth and looked down. Her own pink dress now sported several large orange spots. The other two girls exchanged horrified glances before standing up as well. There was an awful ripping sound, like fabric being torn, as Pfannee climbed away from the table.

Fiyero put a hand over his mouth to stifle a laugh. Not only was Pfannee’s dress now stained purple, it was torn at the bottom, the trim having stuck to the booth and torn off.

“Glue!?” Pfannee cried, pulling at the torn off part of her dress. Galinda saw her purse still sitting on the booth and reached for it, but it was stuck as well.

“Who did this?” Milla demanded, looking around. Galinda’s eyes met Pfannee’s over the table, and it was clear they both had the same idea.

“Why, that vile, terrible, evil little vegetable!” Galinda fumed.

“The green freak?” Shenshen asked. “But how?”

“Who cares how! It’s was obviously her!” Pfannee said, giving up on her dress and stepping away.

Galinda gave her purse one last, violent tug, and it came free. “She sabotaged our dinner! Oh, she’ll pay for this. Just wait until I get back there! That disgusting toad will regret the day she was born!”


	12. Chapter 12

But when Galinda arrived back at her room at Crage Hall that night, the green girl was nowhere to be found.

“Hiding, Elphaba? Good. You can stay gone, for all I care!”

The blonde fumed around the room, looking for something to take her anger out on. She wanted the freak to come back so she could yell at her. But at the same time, she never wanted to see her roommate again. Eventually, Galinda settled for flopping on her bed and crying into her pillow.

Today was supposed to be perfect. And it _was_ , until her despicable roommate had interfered. Couldn’t she let Galinda have one day of peace? One perfect day to spend with her friends without being reminded of the horror she was forced to live with?

The blonde eventually fell asleep, figuring that if Elphaba was half as smart as she thought herself to be, then she wouldn’t come back that night.

 

***

 

But Elphaba couldn’t hide forever. It was with great reluctance that she put out her candle the next morning and packed up her things. She snuck out of the library through a back door and made her way back to Crage Hall. It was late Sunday morning, and most students were still lazing around in the dorms.

Not particularly wanting to go back to her own room, Elphaba stepped into the café on the way for a glass of cider.

“You’re an early riser, aren’t you?” said a deep voice as she walked in. She turned to see a Gorilla behind the main counter.

“I enjoy the times when few people are around,” she replied, handing him a few coins. “Just a glass of cider, please.”

“You’re that Elphaba lass, aren’t you?” the Gorilla said. “Dr. Dillamond has spoken rather favorably about you.”

Elphaba blushed, her cheeks turning a shade or two darker green. “That would be me. And what’s your name?”

“Rakuul,” he said.

“It’s nice to meet you, Rakuul,” she said. He handed her the glass of cider. “Thank you,” she said, smiling. “Have a nice day.”

“You too, Miss Elphaba,” he said as she walked out of the café. She went over to one of the chairs outside and settled down in it, pulling out a book. But her moment of peace was not to last.

Galinda’s friends had knocked on her door early that morning, demanding to see the green girl. When she wasn’t there, the four of them had gone out looking for her. Pfannee looked ready to kill. Galinda was a little nervous, but then she remembered her ruined dress and purse and all doubts disappeared.

“Miss Elphaba,” Pfannee said coolly, marching up to the green girl. “Would you care to tell us where you were last night?”

Elphaba closed the book she was reading and slid it back into her bag. “Stalking me now, are you? I’d be careful, Miss Pfannee. Your obsession with me is getting a tad bit unhealthy.”

“Stop making excuses, freak,” Milla said. “We know it was you.”

The green girl tilted her head to the side. “Why, whatever did I do now?”

“You sabotaged our dinner!” Galinda all but shrieked.

“Did I really?” she asked. “I don’t remember this. Miss Shenshen, do you remember seeing me there?”

Shenshen was too horrified at being addressed directly to respond, but Pfannee spoke over her anyway.

“Maybe you weren’t there, but we know it was you! You used the same glue on our booth that you used on Galinda’s things back at the beginning of the year.”

“Why, Miss Pfannee, I must congratulate you! It appears you have half a brain after all!”

“Shut it, green bean,” Galinda said, crossing her arms over her chest.

“Really,” Elphaba said, pouting a little. “That’s getting a bit old. Can’t you all come up with a new insult for me?”

“How does ‘moldy bitch’ sound?” Pfannee spat. Elphaba’s eyes narrowed.

“How unladylike,” she muttered.

Pfannee went on, ignoring her. “The point is, we know last night was your doing. What are you playing at? Are you trying to start a war with us? Because I assure you, you will lose.”

“I don’t believe I started this one,” Elphaba retorted. She stood up and grabbed her bag. “Besides, I don’t start fights with those who are intellectually inferior,” she said smoothly. Her eyes swept over the girls and landed on Galinda. Her dark lips turned up into a smirk. “I will, however, finish them. Good day, ladies.” With that, the green girl strolled away, headed for Crage Hall.

But Galinda wasn’t through with her roommate yet. While the others fumed and went inside to get some breakfast, she claimed to not be hungry and made her way back to the dorm.

“Ah, lovely. My own personal blonde demon has returned to haunt me,” Elphaba said as Galinda stepped into their room.

“You can’t get away with this,” Galinda said, shutting the door behind her. “You can’t just treat people this way and expect nothing in return.”

The green girl raised an eyebrow. “I knew you were stupid, blondie, but I didn’t think you were that dumb. You started all of this, remember?”

“ _I_ started this? I just wanted to live in peace here! I wanted a nice education and a great experience here at Shiz, but instead I got a repulsive, vicious green _freak_ as a roommate!”

“Well this repulsive, vicious green freak wanted the same thing!” Elphaba cried, whirling around to face her. “I would have left you alone at the beginning of the year, but no! You just _had_ to be seen as Galinda the martyr!”

“I’ll admit it,” Galinda said, crossing her arms over her chest. “I wanted people to like me. But how else was I going to make friends when I was stuck with someone like you?”

“I would assume the way you usually do,” Elphaba replied, clenching her fists. “Or do you always manipulate everyone around you to get them to like you?”

“Oh, what would you know about making friends?” Galinda all but spat at her. “As if a soul in this world has ever cared about you!”

“Is this your only payback, blondie?” Elphaba asked, sounding bored all of a sudden. “Because I’ve heard this all before, and I’ve got better things to do today.”

“Like what? Ruining more people’s lives?”

“Oh, please. I did not ruin your life. Your life is perfect. You’re a pampered, adored, spoiled little brat. I doubt anyone has ever treated you badly in your life.”

“Only you, freak.”

“Good. Someone ought to remind you that you’re not perfect.”

“You know, Shiz would be the best place in Oz if you weren’t here.”

Elphaba rolled her eyes. “You people keep saying that, but I wasn’t the one who started all of this. Don’t you pathetic little girls get it? I was perfectly content with staying out of people’s way and keeping to myself. But no, you all had to make me a target, and now none of us can get a day of peace!”

“You were a fool to think you could live peacefully at Shiz! You’re revolting and cruel, and everyone knows it just by looking at you. If you’re half as smart as you think you are, then surely you would have known that long before you came here.”

Elphaba grit her teeth. “You’re right, _Miss_ Galinda. I only came here to make your life miserable. Which reminds me.” She stepped closer to the blonde, towering over her.

Galinda, however, refused to cower this time. She took a step even closer to the green girl, stretching until she was nearly on her toes and their faces were inches apart. She could have sworn she saw the green girl flinch a little. “ _What_ , Miss Elphaba?”

Elphaba recovered from the sudden close contact and smirked down at her roommate. “How’s that Winkie prince doing? Did he like your new dress color?”

Galinda felt the blood rush to her face and bit back a shriek. Her fists clenched at her sides and, behind the two girls, the window banged open. Elphaba looked over, a little shocked, but the blonde barely noticed.

“I _hate_ you, Elphaba Thropp!” Galinda tensed after she threw the words at her roommate. It was the first time she had told someone that since she was a little girl. Her Ama had always taught her not to hate anybody, no matter how terrible they were.

Elphaba, on the other hand, had heard that phrase countless times before, and it didn’t faze her in the slightest. She just turned and grabbed her bag from her desk and, without another word, left the room.

 

***

 

The open window shuddered behind Galinda. She jumped a little; she had almost forgotten that it was there. Distractedly, she moved over to shut it.

_Did I really do magic?_ she thought. Her brow furrowed. How come she could move things around in her room so easily, yet when it came to her sorcery class she couldn’t cast a single spell accurately?

Was it just the room? Maybe being in her own dorm relaxed Galinda, allowing her to perform magic more easily.

Or maybe…

The blonde stared out the window, lost in thought. It was getting too dark for an early Sunday afternoon. There must have been a storm coming. Subconsciously, she shuffled away from the window and sank onto her bed.

Every time she had performed magic without thinking about it had been when Elphaba was around. She was angry or scared, and she reacted instinctively, throwing the green girl back or banging open windows.

Was that it? Was that the secret? Her magic was violent and harmful, and so it only came out when she wanted to hurt others. She was never purposefully violent or mean unless it came to her roommate. And she was never good at magic…unless it came to her roommate.

Galinda reached behind her and gripped one of her pillows. She pulled it to her chest and hugged it tightly, clinging to it as if it were a lifeline. There were countless legends of evil sorcerers who performed magic only to benefit themselves and bring others pain. Was she one of them?

She shook her head, immediately pushing the thought away. She wasn’t a bad person. It was the green freak. Her vile roommate brought out such terrible reactions from her. Obviously she wasn’t at fault here.

So why did she feel so hollow? _I hate you, Elphaba Thropp!_ The blonde flinched at the memory of her own words. She had thought she meant them at the time, but now she wasn’t so sure. In fact, now that she thought about it, she couldn’t even remember what had started this entire feud against them. Surely the green girl had done something, had wronged Galinda in some way. But for the life of her, the blonde couldn’t remember anything of the sort. All she could remember was first laying eyes on Elphaba and shuddering at the sight of unnatural green skin.

Had she really been so shallow?

No. The green bean must have done something. If not to her, then to Pfannee or Milla or Shenshen. And even if she didn’t start this entire thing, she had kept it going. It was far too late for Galinda to back down now. She and Elphaba were enemies now. That’s how Shiz viewed them, that’s how her friends viewed them, and that’s how they would remain.

But even though she was steady in her resolve, Galinda still felt empty and unsettled. To make things worse, the storm was upon Shiz, the thundering sheets of rain pouring down on Crage Hall.

She buried her face into her pillow and tried to block out the sudden fury that was beating against the windowpane.

 

***

 

Elphaba rushed blindly out of Crage Hall, trying to steady her breathing. She didn’t give a damn about her pathetic, self-centered roommate. She knew no one at Shiz liked her, least of all that pack of rich girls.

So why did it matter so much?

_I hate you_ wasn’t a new phrase to her, not in the slightest. Of course, it wasn’t usually said so bluntly. Normally it was conveyed in disgusted looks or insults. Her own father would say it between every word he said to her, especially when he got into one of his rants. Even Nessarose used to scream it at her all the time, although she hadn’t for some odd years now.

But somehow, Galinda’s words had stung in a way Elphaba hadn’t experienced in years. They had trickled through her hardened shell and shaken her up. The green girl had thought herself impervious to petty insults thrown from such pathetic people, yet now here she was, trembling from head to toe, heart pounding furiously.

She made her way outside and began walking down a sidewalk. She had no clue where she was going, just that it was far away from her dorm room. Before she could get too far, however, something made her stop and look up.

Sure enough, the sky was darkening. The air grew thick with a strange, metallic sort of energy. Elphaba felt her heart drop. She needed to get inside quickly, but where? She refused to go back to Crage Hall.

The library, she thought suddenly, turning in its direction. It wasn’t too far away. And it had never failed her as a refuge before.

She slipped through the front doors just a couple of minutes before the rain began and made her way to the back of the empty building. The old wooden shelves surrounded her, stretching from floor to ceiling, filling the air with the smell of dust and old parchment. The green girl immediately began to relax. She found the corner she had occupied last night and curled up in the armchair. After a few deep breaths, she was able to look back and think clearly over everything that had happened in the last half hour.

In all honesty, she had been expecting much worse from Galinda and her friends. A few biting words were nothing.

So why did it hurt? Because as much as she wanted to deny it, the things they had said _did_ hurt. And it wasn’t just today, it was all year. Elphaba had thought herself indestructible to verbal attacks, but she couldn’t lie to herself anymore. She just wished she knew _why._ It wasn’t as if the girls mattered to her. She couldn’t care less about them. She didn’t even care about the rest of Shiz.

Elphaba sat up straight, her eyes widening as the realization sank in. That was it.

Her time at Shiz was supposed to be different. She hadn’t expected friends, but she had at least expected _someone_ to be a little more open-minded than they were in Munchkinland. She had thought _someone_ would judge her by her intellect and personality rather than her skin color. Of course, it wasn’t like her personality was all that charming. But in a scholarly environment, she was a natural.

That’s why it hurt. Not because the girls’ opinions mattered to her, but because her experience at Shiz did. It was like she had told Galinda: all she wanted was an education and a life here at the college. But the blonde and her friends had taken it upon themselves to ruin any chance of that happening for her.

That was clearly the answer, but even now that she had an explanation for the ache in her chest, she still didn’t feel any better. Elphaba couldn’t even bring herself to pull a book out of her bag. So she settled for hugging her bony knees to her chest and staring out the window. Outside, the rain poured down, effectively keeping her in the library and in her thoughts.


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There is a brief mention of eating disorders in this chapter, just so you know. Remember, you are more than enough.

The events of that weekend seemed to be the breaking point for Galinda and Elphaba. Although they never spoke of it again, there seemed to be a silent agreement that any contact they once had with each other was over. No more vicious insults or snide remarks or messing with each other’s belongings or social lives—or lack thereof.

Elphaba was perfectly content with this new arrangement. She fell easily into her routine of getting up and out of the room before Galinda woke up and slipping in late at night when the blonde was already in bed. She kept to herself in their classes and around campus. She didn’t even make eye contact with her roommate, or anyone else, for that matter.

But Galinda was a naturally social creature, and it was a struggle to live in such lonesome silence. She would rather make conversation, even if it was just with the vegetable. Despite herself, and although she would never admit it, she missed the first few weeks of Shiz, when Elphaba was a vile beast who she could insult and argue with. She might even be willing to face her roommate’s odd magic if it meant not being in a dorm room all by herself.

In the midst of their strange distance, Galinda found herself paying more and more attention to the green girl whenever she saw her. She didn’t really know why, but she couldn’t help it. When her friends asked her about it, however, she played it off as a sort of reconnaissance.

“How else am I going to get the dirt on her?” she asked. “Now that she’s gone all the time, it’s hard to find something to gossip about.”

“Good thinking, Galinda,” Milla said with a nod. She looked over her shoulder at the green girl in question, who had just taken a seat at a table in the corner of the café. It was lunch time, and the place was bustling with hungry students. But Elphaba had nothing but a glass of cider in front of her.

“Why does she always drink cider?” Shenshen asked, wrinkling her nose. “It’s so weird. Why not just have water?”

“Have you ever noticed how she doesn’t eat?” Pfannee asked suddenly. Her eyes were focused on the green girl, and a malicious light seemed to dance in them. “I mean, she was bony at the beginning of the year, but I think it’s even worse now.”

“What do you mean?” Milla asked, turning toward Pfannee.

“Haven’t you ever heard of those girls who starve themselves?” Pfannee said seriously. Something about her tone sounded fake to Galinda. “They don’t think they’re pretty enough, so they stop eating to lose weight.”

Shenshen’s eyes widened, but before any of them could say anything else, Elphaba stood up from her table. They all fell silent as her gaze darted across the room, hitting them for a few brief seconds before moving on.

“Oh dear,” Galinda said, looking up at the clock on the wall. “I’m going to be late for class. I’ll see you girls later!” She grabbed her bag and waved goodbye to them. As soon as she was out of sight, she let out a breath she hadn’t quite realized she was holding. An awful thought nagged at her. Could Pfannee be right?

From then on, Galinda watched her roommate’s eating habits more closely. It was a depressing observation. The green girl rarely ate, and when she did, it was something small like an apple or half a sandwich on her way to class. She also never drank water, something that both worried and confused the blonde.

But worst of all was the night Galinda lay in bed, forcing herself to stay awake. She didn’t have anything to say to her roommate, but she wanted to see anyway. It was past midnight when Elphaba slipped into the room. To Galinda’s immense surprise, the green girl closed the door gently behind her so as not to make a sound. She crept agilely around the dark room, her movements slow and measured.

_Is she really trying not to wake me up?_ Galinda thought. She immediately pushed the thought away. It was absurd to think that the vegetable had a heart, especially when it came to Galinda.

Elphaba carefully opened her wardrobe and pulled out a nightgown. The blonde shifted slightly and watched, ignoring the blush in her cheeks as Elphaba pulled off her frock. The moonlight hit the bare green skin of Elphaba’s torso, causing Galinda to gulp.

Even in the dark, Elphaba seemed much too thin. Her ribs stuck out painfully from her skin, creating strange shadows down her side. Galinda screwed her eyes shut and listened intensely as her roommate changed into her nightclothes and crawled into bed, trying to lose the image that was now burned into her mind.

 

***

 

It had been nearly two weeks since she had spoken a word to Elphaba. As a result, Galinda was bursting with stories to tell every time she met up with her friends. She hadn’t meant for this one to slip out at dinner the next day. It just sort of happened, but she immediately regretted it.

“Gross!” Milla said after Galinda finished describing what she had seen the previous night.

Pfannee just smirked. “Well if anyone is ugly enough to starve themselves, it’s that green bitch. How ironic, too. She thinks she’s so high and mighty, yet she’s sitting there refusing to eat. Even she knows how hideous she is.”

Galinda sat perfectly still, staring down at the plate of food in front of her, a sort of empty feeling growing in her chest.

Pfannee kept talking, and the others leaned in and added their own opinions. The blonde struggled to keep a scowl off her face as they spoke. By no means did she disapprove of making fun of Elphaba, but something nagged at her, insisting that this was a subject that should _never_ be joked about. So why in Oz had she brought it up in the first place?

“Galinda?”

She looked up to find Pfannee staring at her, waiting for her to comment. The girl’s eyes narrowed, drilling into Galinda. It wasn’t like when Elphaba glared at her. Elphaba’s glares were blazing, bright and angry and telling you that you very much deserved her wrath. But Pfannee’s eyes were icy and sharp. Instead of feeling scared or guilty, Galinda clenched her fingers, pressing down into her lap to stop herself from shaking.

“I don’t believe this is something we should be joking about.” Her voice was quiet, steady, and cool.

“It’s just the green bean,” Milla protested. Shenshen nodded.

“If she’s not eating,” Galinda said, “…Well, that’s dangerous, not funny.”

Pfannee waved a hand. “Oh, who cares?”

Galinda could only stare. For a moment, she didn’t recognize her friends. These were not the girls who chatted with her on their first day at Shiz. They were not the high society ladies who went shopping with her and laughed and gossiped together.

She focused on Pfannee’s face—the graceful arch of her eyebrows, the ever-present tightness around her lips and at the corners of her eyes, the blush dabbed onto her cheeks. She noticed, for the first time, that there was a tiny cluster of freckles beneath Pfannee’s right ear, where the corner of her jaw met her neck. She had obviously brushed cream or powder over the spots to conceal them. Galinda wondered vaguely why she would do that.

No, these weren’t the girls Galinda met at the beginning of term. At least, not right now. Right now, they were the girls who had left her in her room with an enraged Elphaba, who elbowed each other out of the way to get to the Winkie prince, who made fun of her for the way that Munchkin boy continuously doted on her.

But…they were also her friends, the darlings of Shiz. If she went against them, she would lose her entire reputation. So she cleared her throat and shrugged. “I suppose you’re right.”

Only a moment had passed. Pfannee smirked while Milla and Shenshen giggled. They eventually moved on to the next piece of gossip, forgetting the tense moment they may or may not have noticed in the first place.

As she fell back into conversation, Galinda was once again content. She smiled and laughed and tossed her hair so it fell perfectly around her shoulders, because she knew all of Shiz was watching her, admiring her, and she had to make the best impression.

And she, too, almost forgot about the ribs poking through green skin.

 

***

 

Elphaba took advantage of their empty room one afternoon to clear off her desk and smooth out the folded piece of paper she had been keeping in her bag all week. The parchment was thick and a little torn from the journey from Munchkinland, but the writing was still intact. The tiny, neat letters told Elphaba who it was from even before she looked at the signature line.

“‘Dearest Fabala,’” she muttered out loud, scowling slightly.

_I apologize that it has taken this long to write._

“I’m sure you do,” the green girl muttered before reading on.

_I have no doubt that your studies have been going well and that you’re sailing through your classes. I only hope that you’re still making time to eat and sleep (by the way, how much money do you have left? I know Father didn’t give you that much to begin with), and maybe try socializing for once. Speaking of which, how are you getting along with your roommate? Hopefully you haven’t been a complete terror to her. I wouldn’t want her to think badly of the Thropp family just because you have trouble keeping your temper._

“Yeah, that’s the problem, Nessa.” Elphaba rolled her eyes.

_Things have been different around here without you. Father’s talking about moving again, although I’m not sure where. He’s finally stopped hovering over me. After you left, he tried his best, but he’s just not as good a caretaker as you. Not that he would ever admit it, of course._

_I know you must be awfully busy—or perhaps you’re just holing yourself up in your room all the time—but I hope you write back soon._

_Love,_

_Nessa_

Elphaba sat back and pressed her palms into her eyes. She could practically hear her sister’s voice coming from the page, reminding her all too much of the life she had left behind. No matter how bad things were here at Shiz, they weren’t as bad as they could be at home.

Not that she didn’t miss Nessa. Despite all her efforts, Elphaba could never quite bring herself to resent her younger sister. She was too devoted to the small brunette, and far too guilty to be anything else.

The green girl reached into a drawer and pulled out a fresh sheet of paper and a pen, but she found herself at a loss. What could she tell Nessa about Shiz? She couldn’t talk about how terrible things were with Galinda, or the number of pranks they had pulled on each other. She couldn’t talk about sneaking into the library after all the buildings were closed for the night. She certainly couldn’t tell her how little she’d been eating lately.

She twirled her pen in her fingers, her brow furrowing. Maybe she could tell her sister about how beautiful the campus is, and how the lake is dazzling when the sun hits it just right. She could describe the ivy-covered buildings and the cobblestone streets. She could talk about how intelligent her professors were, and how great it was to learn from so many great minds, especially ones like Dr. Dillamond.

Yes, it didn’t have to be a long letter. Just something cheerful to write about so Nessa wouldn’t worry—not that she would lose much sleep over it either way, but still. Elphaba put the pen to the paper.

_Dear Nessa,_ she began.

 

***

 

Elphaba had just folded the letter and sealed it in an envelope when her roommate returned. The green girl had grown so used to the chilly silence of their shared room that, when Galinda did speak, it almost made her jump.

She turned to meet the blonde’s eyes, which were scanning her cautiously. “Pity,” Elphaba said. “I had become rather fond of you not talking to me.”

“It has come to my attention, Miss Elphaba, that our relationship might be unhealthy.”

Elphaba’s eyes widened innocently. “You don’t say? And what tipped you off? You stealing my possessions, or me ruining your dresses? Or was it the endless insults between us?”

Galinda glared at her. “I mean us not talking to each other is unhealthy. Everyone needs human interaction, and since I believe I am the only person you ever come close to—”

“Now hold on,” Elphaba protested, pouting slightly. “What makes you think that? For all you know, I could have a secret lover that no one knows about. Perhaps I meet him every night. Perhaps I sneak him in to this very room and have him—”

“Enough!” Galinda said. “Why must you be so vulgar? Besides, we both know that isn’t true. No boy would even _consider_ loving you.”

“Good,” the green girl responded easily. “Love is for fools.”

“Only the bitter say that,” she replied, crossing her arms over her chest. “But as I was saying, this silence between us can’t go on. I’d rather have a negative interaction than no interaction.”

“Aw, is blondie not used to being ignored?”

“As a matter of fact, yes. Unlike you, people actually care about me.”

Elphaba looked away, her eyes catching Nessa’s letter. She scowled and pushed away all the thoughts threatening to take over. “Why would I start talking to you again?” she asked, her voice steady. “Why would I put myself through you and your friends’ endless torment?”

“Because this silence is hurting you, even more than it is me.”

Now Elphaba looked up, her eyebrows raised in disbelief. “What in Oz gave you that idea?”

The blonde shifted her weight from foot to foot. She bit her lip, unsure of how to respond. “I…have you eaten yet today?”

For a moment, the green girl just stared at her. Then something clicked. She glanced again at her sister’s letter, then looked up at Galinda. She could feel the blood draining from her face. Perfect. This was just what she needed: her roommate to find out yet another secret about her personal life.

“I don’t see how that’s any of your concern,” she said sternly, standing up and grabbing her bag.

“Hey, don’t walk out on me!”

Elphaba ignored her, scooped up the letters on her desk, and hurried out of the room. Galinda just stared after her, even more at a loss than before.

 

***

 

Elphaba wasn’t sure which would be worse: her roommate gossiping about how poor she was, or her roommate pitying her for her lack of money.

As if to remind the green girl of the situation, her stomach grumbled. She looked down the street toward the café. It was tempting, but she just couldn’t. The little money her father had given her at the beginning of the semester was running out, and she didn’t know how long it would be until she found the time for a job. So she cut her meals. She had survived on worse before at home, whenever Frex was punishing her for something or another. She would be just fine.

So long as her roommate didn’t get in the way.

And for the most part, it seemed that she didn’t. A couple of whispers flew around campus about how thin the green bean was, but other than that there was no reaction.

Had Elphaba been in the room more often, she might have noticed Galinda’s eyes constantly following her. She might have even picked up on the concern in the blonde’s voice whenever she tried to talk to her. Of course, her worrying was covered up with snide remarks and insults, but it was still there.

But instead of lingering in their room, Elphaba kept to the more deserted parts of campus. More than once she fell asleep in the library or on a bench near the canal, but she always woke up and stumbled back to Crage Hall before anyone would find her.

The next couple of weeks passed, for the most part, uneventfully. Elphaba visited Dr. Dillamond a few times, enjoying in depth conversations with him over a plate of cookies or sandwiches. She decided it was too much effort to try to avoid Galinda and her friends and had resigned herself to simply ignoring them once again. During all of this, Boq kept starting conversations with her when they found themselves alone for a moment or two. Elphaba found the Munchkin endearing, and he was polite to her, so they kept up a tentative acquaintanceship. He also had yet to entirely give up hope on Miss Galinda, although he seemed to be biding his time.

Nessa wrote to her again, and this time the envelope felt heavier. Confused, Elphaba opened it on the spot—after looking around to see if anyone was watching her.

A thick wad of money was stuffed in with the letter. Elphaba was torn between relief and embarrassment. She pulled out the letter and read through it quickly.

_Elphaba,_

_I’m glad you’re enjoying school so much, although I notice you failed to mention anyone but your teachers. Still, I’m sure the campus is as beautiful as you described it to be. Hopefully one day I can visit and see for myself._

_I also noticed that you failed to mention money or food. I know you’ve either run out by now or are skipping most of your meals to salvage what remains of what Father gave you, so I’ve sent some money with this letter. Don’t worry. I asked Father for money to buy a new pair of earrings. He doesn’t know what I really did with it. However, I doubt I could pull a stunt like that again, so you should really be careful with your budgeting. Stick to the necessities, instead of buying endless amounts of books._

Elphaba rolled her eyes. Father would give Nessa anything she asked for. She probably just felt too guilty after lying to him. It was frowned upon in the eyes of the Unnamed God or something like that.

_By the way, I found out where Father is thinking of moving to—the Colwen Grounds. He’s been talking about getting back in touch with mother’s side of the family. It’s rather exciting, actually. Just think of what it would be like to live with the Eminent Thropp!_

_Your sister,_

_Nessa_

Elphaba looked down at the money in her hand for a moment. Then, slowly, she tucked it into her bag and began to walk back to her dorm. But first, she stopped at a café and bought two apples and a sandwich.

Never in her life had she tasted anything better.


	14. Chapter 14

Classes began picking up pace at Shiz, and Galinda found herself struggling to keep up. But while she began putting a little more effort into her work, her friends remained as laid back as always. In fact, they had started growing bored and were looking for the next big entertainment.

This came, of course, in the form of one poor green girl.

Although it was clear Elphaba was eating again, they had yet to find a shortage of rumors to spread about her. Since Galinda had fallen behind, Pfannee had completely taken charge of making the green bean’s life miserable. She spent her days trying to find some big weakness, and when she came up with nothing, she took it out in smaller ways.

This was how Elphaba ended up stumbling into the room one evening, completely covered in mud and grass. It soaked into her clothes and dripped from her braid. Her frock was absolutely ruined, stained all over and torn to bits at the bottom.

Galinda looked up in surprise at the sight of her roommate, but before she could even form a sentence Elphaba had grabbed a nightgown from her dresser and locked herself in the bathroom.

The mud didn’t burn as quickly or severely as water, but it still hurt. Elphaba poured one of her oils onto a towel and began wiping it off, ignoring the stinging across her arms and legs. She peeled off the frock and tossed it to the side, then continued cleaning herself off. She rubbed more oil through her hair, re-braided it, and then slipped into fresh clothes.

The green girl examined herself in the mirror. The nightgown was long enough to cover most of her arms and legs and hide the minor burns that were there. She glanced down at her ruined dress with regret. She didn’t have that many clothes, and she couldn’t afford to buy new ones. But what else could she do? Although she took care of both her father and Nessa at home, sewing had never been one of her strengths, and it would take a good deal of talent to fix the mess that was her frock.

With a sigh, she picked up the dirty old thing and walked back out into the bedroom. Galinda was sitting on her bed, scowling down at some homework. The blonde looked up at her as she walked by. “What happened? Did you fall into the lake or something?”

Elphaba clenched her teeth and tossed the frock over the back of her desk chair, but she chose not to respond.

“Are you just going to leave that there?” Galinda asked, staring at the dress in horror.

“Well it’s completely ruined, so I’m not going to bother putting it with my other laundry. And since I’m already in my nightclothes I’m not going to take it outside to the garbage tonight. So, yes. I’m just going to leave it there.”

“But it’s filthy! Look at that old rag! How in Oz did you end up covered in mud, anyway?”

“Why don’t you ask your obnoxious little friends,” Elphaba said coolly. She climbed into bed and, much to the blonde’s surprise, buried herself beneath the covers. “If it bothers you so much,” she added, facing away toward the wall, “You can take it out yourself.”

Galinda made a disgusted sound that the other girl didn’t bother responding to.

It was strange, being awake with her roommate trying to sleep. Galinda thought of their early days together. _How the tables have turned,_ she thought with a smirk. But Elphaba wasn’t complaining about the light being on, or the scratch of Galinda’s pen and the rustling of pages.

With a sigh, Galinda closed her books and went to pile them on her desk. She looked over once again at her roommate’s ruined dress. Pfannee was behind it. Galinda had known that even before Elphaba said so. But still, Pfannee’s actions had nothing to do with Galinda.

So why did she feel guilty?

The blonde turned to climb into bed, but something stopped her. Biting back a groan, she slipped on her shoes and grabbed the dress before darting out of the room.

She was almost to the trash bins behind Crage Hall when something stopped her. She looked down at the frock in her hands. Elphaba didn’t have that many clothes to begin with, and now one of her only dresses was destroyed. Galinda kicked at the ground, mentally cursing herself for even caring in the first place. Why in Oz this mattered so much to her, she didn’t know. But she _did_ know that she wouldn’t be able to do anything here, so she turned around and headed across campus, toward the sorcery building.

Unlocking the front door took nothing more than a quick spell, but once inside, Galinda had no idea what to do. How difficult was it to repair a dress with magic? The blonde set the frock down on a table and made her way to the nearest bookshelf. Surely there was something here about household spells…

There! She pulled the book down and began flipping through. Dusting, sweeping, doing the dishes, cooking, making a bed, washing clothes _… Wait a minute,_ she thought, _Oh, here we go. Mending clothes._

The spell wasn’t that difficult. She carried the book over to Elphaba’s dress and propped it up to where she could read, then grabbed the frock and spread it out over the table. After repeating the incantation in her head a few times, she spoke it out loud, her hand hovering over the dress.

Nothing happened.

Scowling slightly, the blonde held both hands over the dress and tried again, speaking the words a little louder this time. She felt a faint warmth in her stomach, but then it disappeared. The dress remained torn and covered in mud.

_Well, if that’s how you’re going to be,_ Galinda thought, glaring uselessly at both the spell book and the frock. Now things were personal. Maybe magic wasn’t her strong suit, but clothes definitely were. And if she had to, she would stay here all night to prove it.

 

***

 

Elphaba woke up the next morning and just lay in bed for a few minutes. A couple of places on her arms were still sore from last night’s burns, but it wasn’t anything too bad. It wasn’t anything they would find out about.

With a quiet sigh, she pushed back her thin sheet and sat up. Something dark caught her eye, and she looked over at her desk. Her frock was still hung over the back of the chair.

Odd. She could have sworn she heard Galinda take it out the night before. Elphaba’s brow furrowed as she stood and walked over there. Instead of just tossed over the chair, the fabric was neatly folded and, even more surprisingly, as good as new.

A green hand reached out to touch the fabric. The mud and grass was completely gone. She picked up the frock and held it out. The skirt had been repaired. There were no holes or tears—even the rips she had made herself over the years were gone. Somehow, the dress had been fixed over night. As if by…

Elphaba looked over her shoulder at Galinda’s bed. The blonde was sleeping peacefully, buried beneath her covers. The green girl scowled in her direction. She didn’t need anyone’s help. And why should the rich girl help her, anyway? What could she possibly gain from this?

Shaking her head, Elphaba quietly went to her wardrobe and hung up the dress. She quickly got ready for the day and slipped out of the room before Galinda could wake up. This time, though, she was avoiding her roommate for an entirely different reason.

 

***

 

“What was she like when she went back to the room?”

Galinda shifted in her seat. Pfannee and the other two were staring eagerly at her. “She…she was obviously upset. She just went straight into the bathroom and changed.”

“I thought it looked good on her,” Milla said with a giggle. “Mud is definitely her color.”

The girls all laughed, including Galinda. Although she had repaired Elphaba’s dress, she was by no means on the green girl’s side. It was just a bit of sorcery practice, mixed with her love of clothes—not that you could really count those disgusting frocks as clothes.

The blonde shook her head slightly, her curls bouncing around her face. She vowed then and there that the entire ordeal would never be mentioned again.

“Hey ladies!”

The girls all looked up at the sound of Avaric’s voice. He was on the other side of the courtyard and heading toward them, followed by a small group of boys. Galinda saw Fiyero and immediately moved to straighten her dress.

“Master Avaric,” Pfannee said as he approached. “To what do we owe this pleasure?”

“Pleasure? The pleasure’s all mine, Pfannee.” As he spoke, his eyes left her face and travelled lower. Galinda scowled, but Pfannee seemed to enjoy the attention.

“Hello, Miss Galinda.” She looked to see that Munchkin boy—Boq, was it?—smiling shyly at her. Her friends started giggling, and Boq’s face flushed red.

“Oh. Hello, Master Boq.”

“You’re looking lovely today,” Fiyero said, winking at her. Boq crossed his arms, but took a half step back. The two other boys with them both nudged him in the side, obviously stifling laughter.

“And who might you two be?” Shenshen asked them.

“I’m Crope,” said the boy on Boq’s left. “This here’s Tibbett. Otherwise known as the two most dashing men you’ll ever meet.”

“Not to mention witty and charming,” Tibbett added.

“Don’t forget intelligent,” Crope said, nodding at him.

“And _sensitive_.” Tibbett batted his eyelashes at the other boy. Boq elbowed him.

“Knock it off, you two.”

“Boq’s just jealous because he’ll never get a man half as good as me,” Crope said, leaning on the Munchkin’s shoulder. “Isn’t that right, old chap?”

“Charming indeed,” Fiyero muttered, shaking his head. But he was smiling slightly. He looked up and eyed the open spot next to Galinda. “Miss Galinda, I don’t suppose there’s room on that bench for one more?”

The blonde beamed and patted the wood. “Be my guest, Master Fiyero.”

 

***

 

Galinda never mentioned the frock again, so Elphaba put it to the back of her mind. There were more important things to pay attention to.

Like their mysterious Madame Head. Elphaba didn’t know what it was, but every time she saw Morrible roaming around campus it made her heart beat just a little faster. Something about the woman made her nervous.

Of course, nobody liked Madame Morrible. She was generally referred to as rude, unjust, manipulative, and disturbingly fish-like. But it wasn’t the fact that she was an unlikable headmistress that bothered Elphaba. There was something else, something worse. The green girl just couldn’t quite place what.

_Perhaps I’m only being bitter,_ Elphaba thought one day, remembering the way Morrible had sneered at her on the first day of semester. She looked across the courtyard as the headmistress strolled through, barking at various students. When the woman looked back, Elphaba decided it was time to leave. She slung her bag over her shoulder and started away, heading toward the library.

“Miss Thropp,” said a voice behind her.

The green girl had to stop herself from wincing at the name. She turned around, taking in overly-powdered wrinkles, dry, pursed lips, and a nest of short white curls. The headmistress’s eyes didn’t seem angry or suspicious or anything like that, but they were cold and hard all the same.

“Madame Morrible,” Elphaba greeted her. “It’s just Miss Elphaba, please.”

Morrible waved a dismissive hand. “Yes, yes, whatever you say, Miss Thropp. Now tell me dear, how has your first semester at Shiz been going? I haven’t had the chance to talk to you since that first day.”

_More like you didn’t want to talk to me. So why now?_ Elphaba thought. Instead, she kept her face blank and did her best to answer politely. “It’s been busy, Madame. But I’m enjoying my classes so far.”

“Good, good.” Morrible’s smile gave the green girl chills. “And your roommate? How is Miss Galinda?”

Elphaba chose her answer carefully. If Morrible knew half the things that happened between her and the blonde, then she’d be kicked out of Shiz for sure. “I think she’s doing alright in classes. And she really seems to like her group of friends…”

“Excellent. I know she struggles in my sorcery class, but that’s not entirely her fault. After all, not many are naturally gifted in such things, are they?”

The green girl swallowed. “I wouldn’t really know. Personally, I don’t have much interest in sorcery.”

Morrible’s smile turned into more of a sneer. “None at all? Why, I could have sworn I heard somewhere that you were looking to dabble into some magic.”

“Strange,” she replied calmly. “Madame, I believe you were misinformed. I’m not surprised. Lots of rumors tend to come up about you when you have green skin.”

The headmistress narrowed her eyes, but then nodded. “Of course. What a pity that is, too. I’ve heard from your professors that you’re a bright young lady. I’m sure you would go far under my teaching.”

_Not if Oz depended on it,_ Elphaba thought. “I’m flattered, Madame. But my focus is on history and life science.”

“Ah. You must be a fan of Dr. Dillamond’s then.”

“Yes, ma’am.” What was that look on Morrible’s face? Elphaba shifted her weight nervously. “Um, if you don’t mind, Madame, I was on my way to the library.”

“Oh yes, of course dear! But before you go, there is another reason why I wanted to talk to you.” Morrible caught a hold of Elphaba’s elbow before she could rush off. “The other day—oh, I’d say about a week ago—I found the door to the sorcery classroom unlocked. Now, I make sure to double check the building every night, so someone must have snuck into it. You wouldn’t happen to know who, now would you?”

Elphaba just stared blankly at her. Did Morrible suspect her? That didn’t make any sense, especially since she just said she had no interest in magic. But then, why was she asking? Why in Oz would Elphaba know who snuck into the building? Unless…

Galinda had repaired her dress by magic, yet even Elphaba knew she struggled with all but the simplest spells. Was it possible that Galinda snuck into the classroom, perhaps to find something that could help her? Why would the blonde go through so much trouble for her least favorite person on campus?

Although she didn’t quite know why, the green girl shook her head. “I have no idea. Was there anything damaged or stolen?”

“No,” Morrible said slowly, “There was just a spell book out on one of the tables. A simple text, really, about household spells.”

That was definitely Galinda. But _why?_ “So…no harm done,” Elphaba said.

“Perhaps not, but breaking in and trespassing is still a crime, and I will not tolerate such disrespect at my school.” Morrible’s voice was stern, holding a hint of a warning. Elphaba resisted the urge to smirk. How many times had she broken into the library now?

“Well I apologize, Madame,” she said. “Hopefully it doesn’t happen again.”

“I assure you, it won’t.” Morrible smiled slightly, a look that continued to disturb the green girl. “Thank you for your time, Miss Thropp. Have a good day.”

Elphaba watched the headmistress walk away, then turned and went her own direction. She still wasn’t sure why she had covered for Galinda. Maybe the blonde had repaired her dress, but that was nothing compared to all the horrible things she had done. If anyone deserved to be turned in to Morrible, it was Galinda.

But as Elphaba looked once more over her shoulder at the retreating headmistress, she decided that no one deserved such a thing. Not even annoying blonde roommates.

 

***

 

“What do you say, Elphaba?”

She looked at the Munchkin who stood before her. “Seriously, Boq? You really think it’s a good idea to invite me out with your friends?”

“Oh, it’s just Crope and Tibbett. They’re not cruel like some of our classmates. I’ll admit they’re a handful, but then again so are you.”

Elphaba shook her head. “This is absurd. Besides, being seen out in public with me would surely ruin your chances with Galinda. And you wouldn’t want that, would you?”

“Well, I…”

“Please. I know you’re still trying desperately to woo her.”

The Munchkin blushed, his ears turning bright red. “Why must you mock me so, Elphaba?”

The green girl rolled her eyes. “Because as much as you have tried to convince yourself otherwise, I am not nor will I ever be a decent person.”

“Apparently not,” he said heatedly, crossing his arms over his chest. “And I’ll have you know that I’ve simply been waiting for the opportune moment to ask Miss Galinda out.”

“Spare me. The anticipation is brutal.”

Boq opened his mouth to protest, but he never got the chance. At that moment, a crowd of students filed into the mathematics classroom. The Munchkin stomped off to his own table, and Elphaba sat back in her chair. She scanned the room, a look of vague disinterest on her face. Galinda and her pack of fools were sitting in their usual table, this time accompanied by Fiyero and Avaric.

She raised an eyebrow. Fiyero may have been brainless, but at least he seemed to be an averagely decent fellow. Avaric was simply despicable. Elphaba was surprised even those girls allowed him to stick around. Although if her roommate’s sideways scowls were anything to go by, perhaps he wasn’t completely welcome.

Then her eyes focused on the Winkie prince. She had to admit, it was sort of nice having another oddly skinned person on campus. Of course, he was considered exotic and handsome while she was considered a freak, but still.

The class went by uneventfully. When it was over, Elphaba took her time packing her things. She wanted to avoid bumping into any of her unfriendly peers on the way out. And since that was pretty much everyone—including Boq now, by the way he brushed past her as he headed for the door—she decided to simply wait for the room to empty.

“Pardon me,” a voice said suddenly. The green girl looked up, blinking. The room had cleared out except for one person. One dark-skinned, tattooed person. “You’re Miss Galinda’s roommate, right?”

She resisted the urge to roll her eyes. Of course. She should have guessed. “Is that even a question?” she asked. “Hasn’t she complained all about me by now?”

Fiyero shifted his weight a little, obviously choosing not to answer that. “Um… I just, I don’t believe we’ve been introduced.” His face brightened a little as he figured out what to say. “I’m Fiyero.”

Elphaba looked at his extended hand. “Elphaba,” she said, shaking it warily. The green looked strange against dark skin. “And why, may I ask, have you insisted on introducing yourself?”

“Oh. Well, I…I was curious, I guess you’d say. I mean… well, you see…”

“Ah, your skills in articulation give you away, Master Fiyero.” Elphaba smirked. “You must be another one of Miss Galinda’s gentlemen callers.”

It was amusing to watch the emotions play out across Fiyero’s face, flickering from embarrassment to surprise to doubt.

“A-another one?”

“Oh yes, she’s had a few admirers since the semester started.” Elphaba waved her hand dismissively. “And those are just the ones _I’ve_ heard about. Oz knows how many there have _actually_ been.”

What she failed to mention, of course, was that Galinda soaked in the admiration on a superficial level and never thought of the boys again. And in all their weeks here so far, the only other persistent boy had been Boq who—the poor soul—stood little chance.

Fiyero straightened his shirt and cleared his throat. “Yes, well. That doesn’t seem like the Galinda _I_ know.”

Elphaba snorted. “Master Fiyero, if you were going to dismiss me so easily, why bother coming to me in the first place? It seems like a foolish move. And here I thought Vinkans had some common sense.”

The prince scowled. “You are as terrible as they say you are, aren’t you?”

“I should hope so,” she told him cheerfully. “Wouldn’t want to disappoint them, now would I?”

Fiyero chose not to respond. Instead, he shifted the strap to his bag and left the room. The green girl rolled her eyes as he left. “Really,” she mumbled to herself as she slung her own bag over her shoulder. “What these people are trying to accomplish is beyond me.”

 

***

 

Galinda fumed. It was one tiny little spell, just a simple charm, and she couldn’t cast it for anything.

“ _Concentrate_ , Miss Galinda,” Morrible repeated yet again. “Really, a minor healing spell isn’t even that difficult.”

Morrible had been going on the entire period, calling Galinda out for her inability to cast the spell. The blonde clenched her fists and closed her eyes, taking a deep breath. When she opened them again, she focused once more on the prop before her. All around the room, her classmates were hovering glowing hands over their own props, sealing up small cuts and making minor burns disappear.

Galinda held out her hand and stared at the fake flesh before her. She muttered the phrase that would cast the spell. She poured every ounce of strength she had into her voice, repeating the words over and over again. Nothing happened.

“Miss Galinda, really. Your classmates are doing just fine. What in Oz are you struggling with?”

“I just need more practice,” she mumbled.

Morrible smirked. “Very well then. Class dismissed…except for Miss Galinda. You and I are going to _practice._ ”

The others packed up their things, casting sympathetic looks at the blonde. She just closed her eyes, ignoring the burn in her cheeks, and waited for the headmistress to speak again.

“Well, go on, my dear. Maybe you’ll do better now that there aren’t as many people here.”

But she didn’t do better. She couldn’t. No matter how many times or how hard she tried, she couldn’t heal the wound in front of her.

It was getting late, and Morrible still wouldn’t let her go. Galinda could no longer see the sun outside the classroom’s window. She was exhausted, in every possible meaning of the word, and her attempts were only getting worse and worse. Morrible wasn’t helping any by inserting snide remarks to tear the blonde down. Finally, she’d had enough.

Morrible tsked. “This isn’t even the first time you’ve struggled with a simple spell. Are you sure you’re cut out for this class, my dear?”

Galinda clenched her fists and groaned in frustration. “I’m _trying_ , I—” She cried out, looking down at her hands. Instead of glowing with a healing spell, they were blazing with flickering orange flames.

“Miss Galinda, put that out this instant!” Morrible yelled, stepping toward her.

“I-I can’t!” Galinda shook her hands, but she succeeded only in spreading the fire. She cried out as the flames bit at her left arm.

Morrible was there all of a sudden, seizing her wrists and muttering under her breath. The flames died out, but instead of letting her go, Morrible dug her nails into Galinda’s skin and shoved her away. The blonde stumbled and fell to the ground. The burn on her arm screamed in agony as it hit the floor.

“You clumsy, pathetic fool!” Morrible screeched. “Get out of my classroom, and don’t come back until you gain some ounce of self-control!”

The blonde clambered to her feet and fled the room, barely remembering to grab her bag on the way out.

Outside, the campus was dark and empty. Galinda hurried back to Crage Hall, fighting back tears the entire way. She stumbled into her room and stopped when she saw Elphaba sitting on the bed. She sniffed, willing herself not to cry in front of her roommate. The blonde knew she should have gone to the infirmary, but she just couldn’t.

Morrible’s voice still echoed in her mind.

_Clumsy. Talentless. Pathetic. An excuse for a sorceress._

It wasn’t fair! Galinda was _trying_. She really was. To go to the infirmary now would be admitting defeat. Besides, she _should_ have been able to heal herself with magic.

Madame Morrible was right.

She bit back a sob as pain throbbed through her arm again.

“Miss Galinda, are you going to just stand in the doorway all evening?”

The blonde jumped slightly but gave no response. She was sure that if she opened her mouth, she would start crying for real.

Elphaba shifted on her bed and glanced up from her book. It was immediately clear that something was wrong with her roommate. _She probably lost an earring or something,_ the green girl thought, smirking. “Is something wrong, Miss Galinda?” she asked innocently.

“Leave me alone,” the smaller girl said, but her voice came out as nothing more than a whimper. She hugged herself and made her way across the room. Elphaba raised an eyebrow. There was definitely something off about the way her roommate was moving.

Galinda opened her wardrobe and started looking for a nightgown, gritting her teeth at the pain. Suddenly, the wardrobe fell shut, rubbing against her arm. She sucked in a sharp breath.

“Miss Galinda?” The green girl had no doubt now that Galinda was hurt. But what had happened?

“I said leave me alone, Elphaba,” the blonde snapped. But there was no point hiding it now, so she just slid out of her clothes and pulled on her nightgown, only half-bothering to conceal the fresh burn that covered most of her upper left arm.

Elphaba watched with a neutral expression. Part of her wanted to say screw it, the blonde more than deserved this. But the other part—the one that was still thinking about her frock, and how she had lied for Galinda—wouldn’t allow that. It was the part of her that took constant care of Nessa. The part of her that was throbbing in sympathy, because burns were something she understood all too well.

_Oz damn it all,_ she thought to herself as she got out of bed. Galinda cowered when she passed, but she just ignored her and went to dig through the bathroom. Where was it? And why did her roommate have so many bottles of makeup and perfume and other useless things?

Finally Elphaba found what she was looking for. She went back to the room and tossed the bottle of cream onto Galinda’s bed.

The blonde simply looked at it for a moment. Was this some sort of trick? Slowly, trying not to let her fingers shake, she reached for the bottle. A label wrapped around the glass, and on it someone had written in thin, slanted letters, “ _For burns.”_

Galinda opened the bottle and dipped two fingers in. She bit her lip as she dabbed the cream onto her arm. The pain immediately died down as her skin cooled beneath the salve. It was all the blonde could do not to moan in relief. When she finished, she replaced the cap on the bottle and set it onto the table between their beds. She looked over at her roommate, suddenly realizing that she would have to thank her.

But Elphaba was already lying down and facing the opposite way, her blanket wrapped tightly around her skinny frame.

Galinda huffed. If the vegetable didn’t want to stay awake to hear her gratitude, then fine. She wouldn’t say thank you at all. In fact, why should she thank her in the first place? She had done something nice to the green girl first. This just made them even.

Elphaba smiled to herself as she heard her roommate sigh in frustration. There was a rustle of blankets, and then the room went dark. She had managed to help Galinda _and_ annoy her all at once. Now that nagging thought about her mended frock at the back of her mind could go away, and the two girls could continue to be enemies without any feelings of guilt. Everything was back to the way it should be.


	15. Chapter 15

“Everything is going downhill lately,” Pfannee announced at lunch one day.

Shenshen and Milla looked at her curiously. Galinda wasn’t there yet, and Pfannee was seizing her opportunity to gossip about the blonde.

“What do you mean?” Shenshen asked.

“It’s Galinda. She’s been more and more distracted by her classes lately, and she’s stopped giving us good information on the vegetable.”

“You’re right,” Milla said, pouting slightly. “How can we torment her when we don’t have any new gossip?”

“I’m sure Galinda’s not doing it on purpose, though,” Shenshen reasoned. “Besides, she’s also been focused on Fiyero lately, which is completely understandable.”

Milla smiled and nodded at that. “They would be so cute together. Don’t you think, Pfannee?”

“Yes, of course,” she said, pushing away the scowl that threatened to come up. “I don’t really _blame_ her, of course. But things have gotten quite boring without our fourth partner in crime, don’t you think?”

The other two nodded. “What do we do then?” Milla asked. “We don’t have someone on the inside anymore.”

“No,” Pfannee began slowly, “But I might have an idea. A theory, at least.”

“What is it?” Shenshen leaned forward eagerly.

“Remember that day a couple of weeks ago, with the mud?” Pfannee asked. “She acted sort of funny when we pushed her in.”

“Of course she did,” Shenshen said. “It’s _mud._ ” She shuddered a little.

“Yeah, but this is the green freak we’re talking about. She doesn’t care what she looks like, and I doubt she’s the type to be afraid of getting dirty.” Pfannee shook her head. “No, I think it was something else. It was almost like it was… _hurting_ her.”

“What do you mean?” Milla asked, her eyes widening.

“I mean that the mud seemed to be causing her pain— _physical_ pain. Like a reaction or something.”

“Like what?” Shenshen nearly scoffed. “Allergies?”

“Exactly.”

“Who in Oz is allergic to _mud?_ ”

“Not the mud,” Pfannee said, a malicious glint appearing in her eyes. “What’s _in_ the mud. Have you noticed that she never drinks water? She’s always got juice or milk or something.”

“Don’t be ridiculous, Pfannee.” Shenshen rolled her eyes in exasperation as she caught on to what her friend was saying. “People need water to _live,_ how could anyone be allergic to it?”

“I don’t know,” mused Milla. “I remember reading about it once in the doctor’s office back home. When I asked, the doctor said it was extremely rare, but it was possible.”

“Maybe it has something to do with that awful green skin of hers,” Pfannee said airily.

“Sh!” Milla giggled suddenly, her eyes darting to the front door. “Look who it is.”

The subject of their discussion had just walked into the café. As usual, the green girl’s lips were turned down in a slight frown and she walked with an air of defiant authority. The girls all avoided each other’s eyes and snickered as she walked by, but Elphaba barely noticed. Then Milla gasped in horror. Galinda had just walked in, right behind the horrid green monster.

“Miss Galinda!” Pfannee exclaimed as their small blonde friend joined them. “Miss Galinda, what on earth were you doing with that abomination?”

Galinda shot her a look. “What? I wouldn’t be caught _dead_ with that—” She caught herself, remembering the events of last night, and swallowed back the harsh remark, even though Elphaba was already on the other side of the café and couldn’t possibly have heard. “I wasn’t with her,” she started again, shrugging and hoping her friends couldn’t see the blood heating her cheeks. “We just happened to arrive at the same time.”

“Oh, poor thing,” Pfannee said suddenly. “I’m sorry. I never meant—I mean, I can only imagine how hard it must be to share a room with that…”

Galinda cut Pfannee off. “It doesn’t matter. Who cares about her? Let’s talk about something else. In fact, I think I’ll go get my food now.”

“I’ll go with you, Galinda,” said Shenshen, getting out of her chair.

“That sounds lovely, Miss Shenshen,” Galinda giggled, hooking her arm through her friend’s. As soon as they were out of earshot, Milla and Pfannee leaned in.

“So if she _is_ allergic to water,” Pfannee started, continuing their previous conversation, “What happens if she touches it?”

“It burns her,” Milla said. “Why Miss Pfannee, that is a devilish grin you have there. Whatever are you thinking?”

“I’m thinking,” Pfannee said, casting a glance over her shoulder, “That we shouldn’t involve dear Miss Galinda in all of this. She’s become something of a pacifist lately. And besides, we wouldn’t want to distract her from her classes.”

 

***

 

“You two are evil,” Shenshen decided later that day. They were walking across the grounds, stopping at the fountain that stood near the main square of campus. Elphaba was trailing a few yards behind the rest of the class, not at all interested in the crowd that constantly followed the rich girls around Shiz.

“I’m not going to do anything,” Pfannee protested. “I just want to see something.” She cupped her hands under the spray of water as Elphaba approached and brought them to her lips, drinking delicately. “Mm,” she hummed, smiling. Milla mimicked her, and, after only a brief hesitation, so did Shenshen.

Elphaba raised an eyebrow at the crowd around the fountain. Everyone was taking drinks from the clear water, all smiling and laughing.

“Oh, Miss Elphaba!” a voice called out. The green girl slowed down, looking warily over at the trio of girls. “Miss Elphaba, isn’t the fountain just beautiful?”

Elphaba rolled her eyes, still amazed at how airheaded people could be. She decided, however, that her classmates weren’t even worth the time of a sarcastic remark at the moment and continued to walk past them.

“Would you like a drink, Miss Elphaba?” Boq held out his cupped hands and gave her a somewhat shy smile. Elphaba tried hard not to wince as he offered her the water.

“No thank you, Master Boq,” she said stiffly. The Munchkin boy just shrugged, trying to hide the hurt that passed over his face. Elphaba turned away without another word, feeling slightly guilty. Boq was the only one who at least attempted to tolerate her, even after how she had treated him the other day. Maybe it was only because of his longing to get closer to Galinda, but that was still more than anyone else. The green girl shook her head and continued walking away, telling herself that even if she wanted friends here at Shiz, it was far too late.

Pfannee smirked as Elphaba walked away. She shared a glance with Milla and Shenshen. “Do you believe me now, Shenshen?”

Shenshen stared after the green girl. “I suppose I do.”

“Where is Miss Galinda right now?” Pfannee asked.

“Oh, her class goes through dinner,” Milla answered. “She won’t be around for a while.”

“Perfect.”

“What are you thinking?” Shenshen asked, grinning in spite of herself.

“You’ll see, Miss Shenshen. You’ll see.”

 

***

 

Back at the café, Elphaba didn’t feel like eating. She had considered going to the library, but figured a drink wouldn’t be a bad idea. She sat alone at a table in the corner farthest from the door, staying as far away from everyone else as possible. She drank lazily, letting her mind wander as she stared out the window. She sorted through the day’s lectures and thought of how to start the essay Dr. Dillamond had assigned. _Although many Ozians today believe otherwise, the limitations of Animal rights haven’t always been around. In the days before the Great Drought…_

Still thinking, she stood and placed her cup in the dish window at the end of the room. “Miss Elphaba,” the Gorilla behind the counter said, nodding his head toward her.

“Good evening, Rakuul,” she said with a smile, slinging her bag over her shoulder and leaving the café.

“Miss Elphaba.” This time, the voice saying her name was much less welcoming. Elphaba turned to face the girls that were leaving the café behind her.

“Pfannee, Milla, Shenshen. To what do I owe this pleasure?” Elphaba bit back all further sarcasm when she saw the glass of water in Pfannee’s hand. Her heart sped up and she glanced around. Milla and Shenshen stood on either side of Pfannee, and a few other teenagers were with them, all holding cups of water. More of their classmates were gathering around to watch. Elphaba took an involuntary step back, but the ring of students closed around her, trapping her.

_Damn it. I knew I should have just gone to the library._ Elphaba struggled to control her features and kept her mouth shut. She refused to give them the pleasure of her frightened voice.

“Always so bitter,” Milla said, shaking her head. “You know, _maybe_ someone could look past your hideous exterior if you weren’t such a hideous person on the inside, too.”

Elphaba glared at her. How many times did she have to say it? She had done nothing but try to stay out of everyone’s way at the beginning of the year. She would have gladly lived in quiet peace among her fellow students, but they had insisted on making her the target of the entire university. Elphaba wasn’t the instigator; she was forced to fight back. She had always been forced to fight back.

But she stayed silent, bracing herself for the agony she was about to endure. She would survive. She always had.

 

***

 

Boq hurried toward the café, his head down and his eyes focused on his feet. The rest of his class was far behind him, as he had run ahead of everyone to get out as soon as possible. Finally, after weeks of building up the courage, he had tried to ask Miss Galinda out. He could still hear her high-pitched voice.

_I’m sorry, dear, but I’m just not interested._

He knew she only meant well, but the pity in her face was humiliating. Crope and Tibbett had spent the remainder of the class making faces at him and whispering words of sickening endearment. _I’m sorry, baby. I’m sorry, darling. I don’t love you, Bokky-poo._

How could he have been so stupid? He knew that Galinda was crazy about Fiyero. He knew he didn’t have a chance. Why couldn’t he have just kept his mouth shut?

Gritting his teeth, Boq turned the corner and crashed into someone. “Sorry,” he mumbled, but the person barely glanced at him. Confused, Boq looked around him and peered through the crowd. Pfannee was grinning at someone, her eyes cold. Boq knew everyone saw her as the beta, the second in command of Galinda’s crowd, but he couldn’t stand her. She was arrogant and cold and just plain _mean._ At least whatever faults Galinda had came from her naivety, not her cruelty.

Boq took a few steps to the side, trying to see the rest of what everyone was staring at. His eyes widened as he took in the half dozen teenagers surrounding one tall, lanky, green girl. He didn’t know what was about to happen, but he knew it must have been bad. For the first time in his life, he could see a hint of fear in Elphaba’s eyes.

Boq turned on his heel and ran back across campus, toward the building he had just left. It wasn’t long before he came face to face with the rest of his class. Crope and Tibbett called out when they saw him, making kissy faces again, but he ignored them. He wove his way through the crowd and grabbed the arm of the petite blonde he had been looking for.

“Miss Galinda,” he panted. “Miss Galinda, I—”

Galinda looked upset. “Boq, I-I told you…”

“No!” Boq nearly shouted, and he could see the shock in Galinda’s clear blue eyes. He swallowed, searching desperately for the right words to say. He wasn’t even sure why he had gone for Galinda in the first place. “It’s not me, it’s—it’s Pfannee. Her and the others, outside the café, they—”

Galinda’s eyes widened even more as she gripped his arm. “They what, Boq? They’re not hurt, are they? What’s wrong? Tell me!”

Boq shook his head. “No. Elphaba. They’re going to hurt Elphaba.”

Galinda hesitated, blinking. Boq all but snarled in frustration and dragged her behind him, pulling her into a run. Once they had started moving, she woke up and ran ahead of him, toward the crowd that hung around outside the café.

 

***

 

“A toast, Miss Elphaba,” Pfannee grinned, showing perfectly white teeth. “To you.”

Elphaba couldn’t help it. She turned her head and cringed as the water was thrown at her. Luckily, Pfannee was a terrible shot, and most of the liquid hit her jacket. Still, her hands burned as the water rolled down her sleeves and onto her green skin. She bit her lip and looked up just as Milla’s water hit her, completely soaking the fabric. With a tremendous amount of will, she held back a cry and tore off the jacket, leaving most of her arms bare.

“So it does hurt,” Pfannee said quietly, so no one but her two friends and Elphaba could hear. “How much, I wonder?”

“Bring it on,” Elphaba spat. Her arms and torso burned from where the water had seeped through the jacket, but she set her jaw and glared defiantly at her classmates.

“What’s going on here?” a small voice demanded. The crowd parted to let a tiny blonde through. Elphaba’s heart sank slightly as she saw Galinda. Of course her roommate was involved. “Pfannee, what’s going on? Milla? Shenshen?”

The others who were holding their glasses hesitated, looking between Pfannee and Galinda. Pfannee looked shock, while Galinda was glaring daggers at them. Slowly, they all lowered their eyes and backed away, disappearing back into the café or other parts of campus. A brief, quiet murmuring passed through the crowd as everyone began to disperse. Boq glanced around, then followed the crowd away. Soon only the five girls stood there, Shenshen still holding her water.

Milla smiled innocently and smoothed her skirt. “Why, we’re just hanging out with our favorite green classmate. That’s all.”

Galinda looked from her friends, to Elphaba and her soaked jacket, and back again. “What…?” She shook her head. “Pfannee, did you start this?”

“I believe _she_ started this,” Pfannee said coldly, “Or have you forgotten that she’s been a devil to us all year?”

The comment didn’t faze Elphaba in the slightest. But at that moment, Pfannee wrenched the cup out of Shenshen’s grasp and stepped around Glinda to get closer to the green girl. Elphaba threw her arms over her face and shut her eyes. A shriek rang through the air…but it didn’t come from Elphaba. Nothing hit her. She looked up and saw both Pfannee and Galinda drenched in water. Pfannee was screaming, looking down at her soaked dress and frantically tugging at her unraveling curls. Galinda looked just as shocked, although she stayed still and quiet.

Milla grabbed Pfannee and began pulling her away before anything else could happen. Elphaba could have sworn she heard Shenshen giggle as she followed them. Galinda shook her head suddenly, coming back to reality, and looked at Elphaba. “Well, I wasn’t going to bathe tonight, but…” The smile faded as she took in her roommate. “Elphaba? Are, uh, are you okay?”

“What did you just do?” Her voice was barely audible.

Galinda looked offended. “I took a glass of water for you. It was quite heroic, actually. You could do more than just stand there, you know.”

Elphaba did do more than just stand there. She turned and walked toward the dorms, wincing slightly as she moved.

“W-wait!” Galinda called, grabbing the black jacket from the ground. “Don’t you want your—”

“I can’t touch it,” Elphaba said through her teeth.

“I-I’ll carry it for you?” Galinda stammered, thoroughly confused.

“How very thoughtful,” Elphaba remarked, but her heart wasn’t entirely in it. She just wanted to get up to her room and her burn cream and forget about everything that had happened. Elphaba was used to public humiliation, but never before had a group of people found out about her water allergy. She flinched, suddenly afraid of the advantage her classmates had over her. _How did they know?_

“What?” Galinda asked. Elphaba mentally cursed herself for thinking out loud.

“Nothing.”

“Elph—”

“How did they know water hurts me?” she demanded, not at all expecting an answer.

“Water hurts you?”

Elphaba stopped, glaring at her roommate. She shoved her arm in front of her, revealing the puckering red patches that now stood out violently against her skin. “I’m allergic to water. What did you think they were doing?”

Galinda stood with her mouth open. She had thought the girls were just soaking Elphaba to humiliate her. She didn’t realize anyone could ever be so cruel as to actually physically _hurt_ the girl.

“Elphaba, I—”

“Don’t you dare say you’re sorry,” Elphaba hissed, hurrying once more to Crage Hall. In her mind, Galinda had started all of this. She had thought that, after the frock and the burn cream, things were starting to at least calm down, but now she realized how foolish she had been. Galinda would never stop trying to make her life miserable. And sure, Elphaba wasn’t innocent in tormenting her roommate right back, but at least she kept it to herself instead of recruiting the entire school.

_Who would you talk to about it anyway? Dr. Dillamond? You have no friends, idiot._

She got to the room before Galinda and hurried in, not bothering to close the door behind her. She went straight to the bathroom and pulled out a white jar about the size of her hand. Her burnt palms screamed in protest as she unscrewed the lid. She dipped her fingers into the creamy oil and, hand shaking, began rubbing it into her upper arm, just as Galinda had done the other night. A groan escaped her lips as the pain flashed through her skin.

“Elphaba?” Galinda stood in the doorway, concern rolling off of her tiny body. Elphaba ignored her, though, and continued rubbing the salve into her burnt skin. “Elphie, please, I—”

“Elphie?” The taller girl looked up, annoyance mixing with a hint of amusement on her face. For a moment, she looked like herself again. The relief in Galinda’s smile was evident. “I’m fine, Galinda.”

“I can’t believe Pfannee would—and Milla and Shenshen right with her! Oz knows what they were thinking!” Galinda continued to rant as she went to lock the bedroom door and settled down onto her pink-clad bed. Elphaba just rolled her eyes, knowing perfectly well what those girls were thinking. It was the only thing anyone ever thought of her.

“Wait,” Elphaba said suddenly, cutting her roommate off and looking into the bedroom. “Why were you there, anyway?”

Galinda looked at her, a little hurt. Elphaba glanced down and frantically returned to applying the salve. “I mean, if you didn’t know what was going on…”

“I ran ahead. Boq saw what was happening and came to get me.”

“To get _you_?” Elphaba asked sharply. Galinda looked as if she’d been struck. Elphaba sighed. “I didn’t mean…it’s just…well, we’re not exactly friends, now, are we?”

“That doesn’t mean I want to see you get melted by a bucket of water.”

Elphaba made a noise of exasperation. “It wouldn’t _melt_ me. It would just burn me—like acid.”

“Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t realize. That sounds _so much_ better.”

The two girls fell silent. Elphaba finished on her arms and pulled a dark nightgown from her dresser before heading back to the bathroom. Once she was alone, she scowled in the mirror. Her hands were still trembling slightly, just barely revealing how shaken up she was. She knew how awful people could be, but she never imagined something like this to happen—especially by girls her own age. She bit her lip anxiously, but then ran a hand over her face, taking a deep breath to compose herself.

Gritting her teeth, she gently lifted her blouse, hissing in a painful breath as the fabric clung to her scorched skin.

“Elphaba, are you—” Galinda froze in the doorway to the bathroom, staring in horror at her roommate’s torso. Angry red streaks covered most of her left side and stomach. Parts of the green skin were bleeding from where the wet shirt had torn away. Elphaba closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

“Stop staring at me,” she hissed. Galinda gulped, still frozen. “Galinda!”

“Let me help,” she said suddenly, her eyes flashing to her roommate’s face.

Elphaba hesitated, unsure if the offer was genuine or not. “In the top drawer of my desk,” she said quietly, not looking at Galinda, “There is another jar like this, except it has some bandages in it. Will you bring them to me?”

Galinda was gone before Elphaba had finished talking. She turned back to the mirror, wincing at her reflection. As if being green wasn’t bad enough, her entire upper body looked like some half-burnt corpse. She shoved her pathetic thoughts away and began rubbing the burn cream into her wounds.

“How are you not crying?” Galinda demanded, walking back into the bathroom.

“What?” Elphaba found herself focusing intently on her roommate’s voice, trying desperately to distract herself from the pain.

“You look like you just took a bath in a fireplace—”

“—I basically just did—”

“—Yet you’re acting as if it were nothing more than a couple scrapes.”

Elphaba stayed silent for a moment. She was retreating back into herself, pulling up the walls she had always held. She didn’t want Galinda to know about her. She didn’t want to be friends with the girl who had initiated this hell. “Just because _you_ overreact to everything doesn’t mean I have to, too.”

“If anything, Elphaba, this is _under_ reacting.”

“That’s not a word.”

“I just said it, didn’t I? That makes it a word.”

“No it doesn’t, you—” She bit back her response. There was no need to be cruel toward Galinda.

“Elphaba…” Galinda’s voice was soft. “ _Can_ you cry?”

The green girl rolled her eyes as she took the bandages from her roommate. “Of course I can cry. Don’t be stupid.”

“I’m not stupid,” Galinda said, a little upset. “And I didn’t mean are you physically able to cry. I meant, does it hurt you?”

Elphaba looked down, focusing on wrapping her torso. When she was finished, she slipped her nightgown on, trying not to irritate the wounds. She grabbed her things and went back into the room. Galinda stared after her for a long moment, but then decided wish a small sigh that her roommate wasn’t going to talk and went about getting ready for bed. She went into the bathroom to change. For the first time in her life, she avoided looking at her reflection in the mirror. When she crawled into her bed a few minutes later, Elphaba was still fumbling with the jars at her desk. The green girl exhaled.

“Thank you,” she said quietly, her eyes focused on what her hands were doing. “I know standing up for me took a lot of courage, and it certainly saved me from a lot of pain, so…thanks.”

“You’re welcome.” Glinda’s voice was soft.

Clearing her throat awkwardly, Elphaba closed her desk drawer and crawled into her own bed. Just before she turned out the light, she caught a glimpse of something dark hanging on the bathroom door. Her jacket. Galinda had carried it home and hung it up for her.

Furrowing her eyebrows, she blew out the lantern and lay back in bed, scowling slightly at the ceiling. For a long time, she didn’t say anything. Then, “And…yes. Tears burn my skin.”

Galinda didn’t say anything, but Elphaba knew she was still awake. Still scowling, the green girl rolled onto her side, turning her back on her roommate.


	16. Chapter 16

To all of Shiz, the world was exactly the same in the weeks that followed the water incident. The green girl continued to keep to herself, and the rest of the world continued to mock her. Galinda was still escorted everywhere by a small crowd of admirers. She was even still friends with Pfannee and Milla and Shenshen—although she made them all swear to never try something so violent again. For all anyone knew, the incident might never have happened.

But there were two girls who felt a change.

Elphaba started paying more attention to the people around her. Every time she neared a place with water, she would look around nervously, checking the nearby faces for any trace of hostility. She spent even more time in the library, surrounding herself with piles of books and papers. Less and less snide remarks rolled off her tongue, but the responses in her head were steadily becoming more bitter and profane. The burns on her skin healed quickly, but she could still feel the humiliation searing her ego. To distract herself, she had taken to talking to Dr. Dillamond after class, writing papers for extra credit and discussing the deeper points of the Animal rights movement. Dr. Dillamond welcomed the bright girl’s company, but he would always gaze sadly after her when she left.

Galinda, on the other hand, acted completely normal. The change for her was that now, everything felt…well, _wrong._ She enjoyed the company of her friends, yet she noticed more and more the cruelty that would come from Pfannee. She had to keep herself from cringing at Milla’s constant pettiness, and she secretly marveled at how Shenshen always did what everyone else told her to. Worst of all, she knew that she had acted the same exact way. But she couldn’t bring herself to change anything—not even in her own room, when the door was locked for the night and there was nothing but her and her roommate. Once or twice, she had asked how the green girl’s burns were healing, but aside from that, they would barely speak a word to each other.

Elphaba quickly came to accept that the water wasn’t actually Galinda’s fault. In fact, the girls hadn’t so much as looked at Elphaba viciously since that day. Something told her that Galinda was behind the sudden truce, but she always pushed that thought aside. The fact that her perky roommate still hung out with that group was enough to convince Elphaba that the girl would never change. But during the day she thought of none of this. It was all too easy to escape her thoughts and delve into her studies, especially when she was with Dr. Dillamond.

Until one day.

“Miss Elphaba,” the old Goat said, turning to see the girl lingering behind the class yet again. “You know how I enjoy your company but really, don’t you think you should be hanging out more with your friends?”

Elphaba just shrugged. “I have no friends.”

Dr. Dillamond sighed and motioned for Elphaba to sit. “Now dear, you must listen to me. I understand that circumstances are against you. Truly, I do. It’s been many years since another Animal taught at this school. Being the only one of your kind tends to make you an outcast, yes?”

Elphaba nodded, trying to keep her expression polite. She didn’t want to talk about being an outcast. She didn’t want to discuss how to make _friends._ Her classmates didn’t want to accept her, and that was just fine; it was what she was used to.

“But what I don’t understand, Elphaba, is why this is the one thing you’ve chosen to accept,” the Goat went on. “You pour so much passion into every other aspect of your life—your studies, your beliefs, your opposition to negative opinions and stereotypes—yet you will just sit there and let your classmates treat you any way they please. Are you really so willing to accept the ridiculous notion that you don’t belong?”

“I _don’t_ belong, Dr. Dillamond.”

“Come now, child. Surely there is someone at Shiz who has treated you with kindness.”

Elphaba scowled. “Common courtesy isn’t the same as accepting someone.” The Goat continued to look at her, his eyes gentle. She sighed. “But yes. Master Boq—he’s been kind. And my roommate…she, uh, she’s helped me a couple of times.”

“People are strange, Elphaba,” the Goat said gently, “Especially when it comes to emotions. Sometimes we struggle to express ourselves, and your age is the worst. Sometimes…well, sometimes it’s hard to stand up for someone, especially when you’ll be standing against everyone else.”

“I don’t need anyone to stand up for me,” Elphaba said. But she was still thinking of Galinda, marveling at her courage as she stopped her friends. She hugged her elbows. “Honestly, Dr. Dillamond, you’re the first person who has ever actually cared for me—besides Nanny. I’m used to standing alone. I don’t need help, and I don’t need friends.”

“Some of us walk a lonelier path than others,” Dr. Dillamond said, nodding his head. “And you, my dear, are on the loneliest path of all. Between your intelligence, your skin, and your admirable passion and will…well, I’ve never seen someone with such a complicated story. And I mean this all as a good thing. But no one—and I mean _no one_ —can truly walk alone. Just as the body needs food and drink, the soul needs company.”

“I don’t have a soul,” Elphaba whispered, digging her fingers into her skin.

“Then the heart,” Dr. Dillamond suggested without missing a beat. “The heart needs company.”

Elphaba stayed silent. She had never needed company. Sure, she had longed for a friend when she was younger. That was, after all, why she had first turned to books. But after years of rejection by every living being around her, she knew it was impossible. Dr. Dillamond watched her steadily through her silence.

“At least promise me this: the next time someone knocks, you’ll at least try to let them in.”

Again, Elphaba didn’t say anything. Dr. Dillamond put a hoof on her shoulder. She gave a tiny nod, and then stood up to leave. Her teacher watched her go, tilting his head down toward her. He knew that the comfort Elphaba came to him for was books and educated discussions. But he also knew that the time for such comfort was running out, and he didn’t want to leave the girl without telling her everything they had just discussed. Though it wasn’t quite like him, he sent up a silent prayer that his dearest student wouldn’t always walk her path alone.

 

***

 

Elphaba was late.

Galinda tried not to notice the feeling of emptiness that welcomed her into the room that evening. Her roommate spent most of her evenings in the library, returning only when the sun had set. The only exception to this was the days they had history, and Elphaba’s time was spent with Dr. Dillamond after class. Today was one of those days.

_So she’s staying a little later than usual with the old Goat,_ Galinda thought to herself, _What does it matter to you?_

She tossed her bag down on her desk and flopped on her bed, smiling at the thought of an entire weekend with no homework. For the first time since arriving at Shiz, she had finished an assignment early—a _history_ paper, no less. She was sure Dr. Dillamond couldn’t care less, but she was still proud of herself as she turned it into his desk before leaving the room. Her grin widened as she thought of her friends all still working on the essay. The only other person to get it done was Elphaba, of course.

At the thought of her roommate, Galinda again glanced up at the clock on the wall. The history class had been dismissed over an hour ago. _Maybe she’s still at the café,_ Galinda thought. But Elphaba rarely ate at the café anymore, preferring instead to grab something to go and head either to the library or to her room.

So she was at the library. Unusual for a Friday, but the girl was unusual to begin with. Galinda slid off her bed and wandered to her dresser, pulling out a small bottle of nail polish. She settled back down and began painting her left index finger, humming quietly to herself.

She didn’t look up again until a bell tolled from the middle of campus, signaling the hour. Galinda stood and went over to her window. Almost no one was to be seen walking around the campus. Elphaba should have been back by now. A feeling of unease settled in Galinda. Surely the green girl was fine. But what if…what if she wasn’t? What if Pfannee had decided to try something again? Without really thinking about it, Galinda grabbed her jacket and key and hurried out of the room.

She stopped as she stepped outside of Crage Hall. The sky was unusually dark for this hour, and a faint metallic scent hung in the air. Galinda bit back a whimper as thunder rolled in the distance and almost ran back inside. But then she remembered Elphaba. What if she was stuck out there? What if she got caught in the rain? Taking a deep breath, Galinda hurried down the steps and headed for the library.

 

***

 

Elphaba hadn’t stopped walking since she left the history classroom. The campus seemed abandoned, but she preferred it that way. She couldn’t get Dr. Dillamond’s words out of her head. Friends, emotions…what did any of it matter? She knew from experience that no one wanted her around—not even her own father. And why should they? She was a sarcastic, bitter, green _freak._ Who had ever actually cared for her?

Boq? He only wanted to get closer to Galinda.

Galinda? No way. She had her moments, but immediately afterward she would slip right back in to her regular self. Chances were she only stood up for Elphaba so she could be the good girl—Galinda the Good, the campus hero and all that.

Dr. Dillamond? Perhaps. Elphaba sighed. Her history teacher was intelligent, kind, and above all, accepting, but he was, well, her _teacher._ As much as she admired him, she knew they weren’t friends.

As she walked through campus, her head down and both hands clenched around her shoulder bag, she barely noticed anything but her thoughts. She didn’t realize that she had been wandering around for two hours, or that the sky was growing dangerously dark. She was entirely consumed in her silent ranting until something rumbled in the distance. Elphaba froze, staring up at the clouds brewing above her. The hair on the back of her neck stood up as she tasted the coming rain in the air. Her heart started thudding in her chest. How long did she have before it started pouring? Where was she, anyway?

She looked around. Great. She was on the far side of campus, nearly ten minutes from Crage Hall. She didn’t know how late it was, but she was sure that most of the buildings had closed for the night. Pulling her hood up over head, she walked swiftly through campus, cutting through fields to try to get to the dorm faster. More thunder echoed in the distance, and she quickened her pace.

_Hell and Oz, Elphaba,_ she snarled at herself. How could she be so unobservant to get caught in a _thunder storm,_ of all things? She watched as a bolt of lightning lit up the sky. Her heart dropped as she heard the soft sigh behind her. Thinking quickly, she ducked under an overhang to one of the classrooms just as the sheets of rain began. She tried the door of the building, ignoring the trembling of her hands, but it was locked. She all but screamed in frustration as she turned back around to face the campus. The sidewalks were already soaked. Water—deadly, agonizing water—dripped off the overhang, barring her from the rest of the world. She squinted through the darkness, trying to make out where she was. A weight settled in her chest as she saw, just another block down, the front steps of Crage Hall.

Irony at its finest, she thought bitterly. What was she going to do? Spend the night on these steps? Oz, she could just imagine the reactions of her classmates when they found her in the morning. The wind picked up, and she yelped as a sheet of rain hit her side. No, she couldn’t stay here. Gritting her teeth, she pulled the hood further over her head and buttoned her jacket all the way up. One block wouldn’t be so bad, would it? She shoved her hands in her pockets and jumped off the steps, sprinting through the downpour toward the safety of her dorms.

All she could hear was the pattering of rain against her hood, but she didn’t feel it. She actually laughed as she neared Crage Hall and leapt onto the first step in triumph. Breathing hard, she tore her jacket off before it could soak through. The thunder growled behind her, but she just cackled delightfully.

Still grinning, she entered the hall and went up to her room. She expected to find Galinda sitting on her bed, but it was empty. The bathroom was dark. No one was there.

Elphaba hung her jacket up in the bathroom and inspected herself. Nothing but a couple of drops on her hands and neck. She almost laughed again, but something held her back. Frowning slightly, she went back into the room. “Galinda?” she called quietly, knowing that her roommate wasn’t here. Where could she be? The blonde girl was always either at class or with her friends, and her friends wouldn’t be out this late, not when it was raining. Was she caught out in the storm, too? But why? And why should it matter—it wasn’t like _she_ was allergic to water.

Elphaba stood in the middle of the room, unsure of what to do. Why did she care, anyway?

Then she heard tired footsteps outside the room. Despite herself, her heart leapt as she saw the doorknob turn. Galinda shuffled into the room, exhausted and completely soaked. Elphaba heard her sniff a little, but then the blonde looked up.

“Elphie! You’re okay!” Galinda looked like she was about to hug Elphaba, but then thought better of it. Elphaba took a step back, glad that her soaking wet roommate had restrained herself.

“Of course I’m okay. What—where were you? Why were you out in the rain?” Were those _tears_ in Galinda’s eyes? Elphaba swallowed. What had happened to her roommate?

“I was out looking for _you!_ ” Galinda protested, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

“ _Me?_ But...why?”

Galinda wrung her hands, suddenly avoiding her roommate’s eyes. “Well, you hadn’t come back yet, and then it was about to start raining and I, well, I was worried you would get stuck in the rain somewhere and…”

Elphaba stared. “I…”

Galinda shrugged, still looking away. She stepped past Elphaba and began pulling dry clothes out of her dresser. Elphaba’s head was reeling. Had Galinda really gone looking for her? What did it matter to her if she got caught in the rain? She shook her head, trying to clear her thoughts, and went to her own dresser in search of a nightgown.

The next half hour was spent in silence as both girls readied for bed. Galinda sat in the bathroom, fighting with her wet hair. The storm continued outside, seeming to only grow fiercer with every minute. Thunder shook the entire building, causing Galinda to jump. She swallowed her fright and continued with her hair, glad that Elphaba was in the other room. When she came back out, her roommate was already settled in bed, a book on her lap. But, Galinda noticed, her eyes weren’t moving across the page.

Another clap of thunder took the small blonde by surprise, causing her to squeal. Elphaba looked up, one eyebrow raised. “Sorry,” Galinda mumbled, “I just…it took me by surprise.”

The green girl focused back on her book, shifting uncomfortably. She watched out of the corner of her eye as Galinda pulled back her obnoxiously pink blankets. “Galinda? Were you really out looking for me?”

Galinda crawled into her bed. “Well, yeah. You aren’t usually out that late. I mean, where _were_ you?”

Elphaba avoided her eyes. The last thing she wanted to do was discuss the reason why she was caught in the storm. “I was talking to Dr. Dillamond. You know, after class, like I always do.”

“For two hours?” Galinda’s eyes narrowed slightly.

“I took a walk afterwards.” Elphaba swallowed. “I guess I just lost track of time.”

“And you didn’t see the storm coming?” Galinda’s voice wavered and she looked nervously out the window at another flash of lightning.

“I was…preoccupied.” Elphaba took in her roommate’s tense posture. Her pale fingers were wrapped tightly around her blanket, and she kept glancing at the dark sky outside. Why was she so uneasy? She couldn’t still be worried. Now that she was safely indoors, not even the green girl was nervous. Thunder boomed outside, rattling the window. Galinda yelped, and something clicked in Elphaba’s mind. “Wait…you’re not afraid of storms, are you?”

“No,” Galinda said shortly, glaring at a spot on her bed. “That’s ridiculous. Only a child is afraid of storms.”

A few weeks ago, Elphaba would have laughed and tormented her endlessly about this. Oz, she might have done that just a few hours ago. But now, for once, she had no desire to tease her roommate. In fact, as more lightning lit up the room, all she could feel was sympathy and a strange longing to… _comfort_ Galinda.

“It’s not childish,” she said. “People just have strange fears sometimes. I mean, look at me. I’m afraid of _water_.”

“You’re not afraid of water,” Galinda grumbled, “You’re _allergic_ to it.”

“Most fears come from a painful experience,” Elphaba countered.

“Of course you’d have a smart answer for everything,” Galinda said, a hint of bitterness in her voice. She didn’t want to talk about her stupid fear of storms. She didn’t want to talk about the reason why the thunder made her tremble so. But she wasn’t mad at Elphaba. If anything, she was relieved that her roommate wasn’t making fun of her.

Elphaba put her book down and blew out the lantern, plunging the room into darkness. She could vaguely see her Galinda’s outline, still half sitting up in bed. Elphaba hesitated, remembering her conversation with Dr. Dillamond. She sighed quietly. She owed the blonde anyway. Once again she had shown an unlikely amount of courage, braving one of her fears to come looking for her.

“I-I can stay up with you,” Elphaba said, sitting up. “If…if talking will distract you?”

Galinda turned to look at her roommate in the darkness. Back at home, her Ama would always sit up with her during storms, telling stories and singing to her until she had calmed down enough to fall asleep. No one, not even her friends, had shown her kindness like that since she came to Shiz. “Y-you don’t have to,” she mumbled quietly. “I’m fine.” Another crash of thunder, however, proved otherwise.

Trying not to grin at the irony, Elphaba relit the lantern and sat cross-legged, facing her blonde roommate. Galinda gave her a small, grateful smile. They were quiet for a moment, both of them realizing that they didn’t have anything to talk about. Galinda twisted her hands in the hem of her blanket. “So, uh, what were you and Dr. Dillamond talking about that had you so…preoccupied?” She immediately regretted the question. She could practically see Elphaba retreating back into herself. Her shoulders hunched a little and she looked down at her folded hands.

“Just…the usual. History. Animal rights.” Elphaba was obviously lying, and both girls knew it. Still, Galinda latched on, grateful just for being answered.

“Is it your favorite subject? History, I mean.”

Now, it appeared, Galinda had asked the right question. Elphaba’s eyes lit up the tiniest bit and a smile colored her voice. “Yeah. You can learn so much from the past. Nearly every problem we have today—politics, wars, the stripping of rights, plagues, famine—they’ve all happened before. Everything repeats itself. The entire world works in these patterns—patterns that historians can find and use to come up with solutions and—” She sucked in a breath and stopped short.

Both girls sat in silence for a moment. That was the most either of them had said to the other at once. Elphaba felt the blood creeping up to her neck and was, for once, grateful for her green skin that helped hide the blush. Galinda, however, was mesmerized. She had never seen someone light up like that before. It was as if an entirely new Elphaba had appeared, getting rid of the closed-off girl that was usually there.

“Wh-what about you?” Elphaba asked, her rough voice returning to its usual tone. “What’s your favorite class?”

For once, Galinda was disappointed to have the conversation turn back to her. “Oh. I, uh, I like sorcery, you know. Magic amazes me. But…well, I’m not very _good_ at it. And it’s taught by…”

“Morrible,” Elphaba finished for her, nodding in sympathy. “Don’t feel bad. I doubt anyone could excel under her.”

“You could,” Galinda whispered. She tensed as the words spilled out and hung in the air between them. What in Oz had caused her to say that?

Elphaba swallowed, astounded by the…was that an actual _compliment?_ “Well. You know I have no interest in sorcery,” she said briskly. “Especially not when it’s being taught by our dear old Madame Head.”

Galinda exhaled. “She is quite _Morrible._ ” She giggled and even Elphaba smirked a little. Galinda realized suddenly that she hadn’t jumped in quite some time. She made the mistake of looking out the window just as another bolt of lightning split the horizon.

“Is there a reason?” Elphaba asked quietly. As soon as she said it, she regretted it. She didn’t know Galinda. They weren’t friends. Why should her roommate confide in her?

Galinda hesitated. She stared out the window, seeing an entirely different storm, from a long ago, entirely different night. “Well…yes.”

“I-I understand,” Elphaba said quickly. “You don’t have to tell me.”

“You’re the only person who knows,” Galinda whispered, looking down. Elphaba was taken aback.

“You mean…you’ve never told your friends? Pfannee? Milla and Shenshen?”

Galinda shook her head. “No one. Just my Ama.”

“You mean your _parents_ don’t even know?”

“They think I grew out of it.”

Elphaba stared at her roommate. “Why…why wouldn’t you tell anyone else?”

“Because they’d make fun of me,” she shrugged.

“Your parents?”

“No,” Galinda said quickly. “No, my parents don’t know just because they’re never around.” This time she inhaled sharply, realizing that she had said too much. Elphaba raised her eyebrows.

“I thought your family…”

“Oh, my family is great,” Galinda said. “It’s just…my parents have so much to do all the time, and the house is so big…”

“But…” Elphaba gathered her courage. “But, they love you.”

“Of course,” Galinda said, as if it were obvious. “We just don’t get to spend a lot of time together. That’s why I have my Ama, though.”

Elphaba relaxed, only then realizing how tense she had been. She didn’t want anyone else to have a parent like her father. No one deserved that—especially no one with a natural skin color.

“What about your parents?” Galinda asked, eager to change the subject.

Elphaba bit her lip to keep from telling her roommate to mind her own business. “My mom died when I was little. It’s just my father and I…and my sister, Nessarose.”

“You never had a woman to take care of you?” Galinda asked incredulously.

“Well, for a while I had Nanny. But my father got rid of her after my fourteenth birthday. He said we didn’t need her now that I was old enough to take care of myself and Nessa.” Elphaba hesitated, then added, “But I don’t think that was the reason.”

“What do you mean?”

Elphaba was silent for a long time. “I just…I liked Nanny. A lot. And Father always had a way of getting rid of the things I liked.”

A weight settled in Galinda’s chest. She remembered the joke she had made at the beginning of the year, back when she had first met Elphaba. She remembered raising her voice, loud enough for the green girl to hear, as she talked about how ashamed her parents must be of having a child so hideous. Guilt churned her stomach as she realized that her comment might actually have been true.

“Is that why you asked if my parents loved me?”

Elphaba just shrugged. “The storm’s passed,” she said eventually, staring out the window. Galinda followed her gaze. The stars were shining in the now clear sky.

“So it has.” When she looked back, Elphaba was blowing out the lantern once more. Feeling even worse than before, Galinda settled into her pillows, facing her roommate. “Fresh dreams, Miss Elphaba,” she said softly.

“Good night, Miss Galinda.” Elphaba turned to face the wall, bringing her dark sheets up to her shoulder.

Galinda continued to watch her, imagining all the words she would say to her, if only she had a little more courage.


	17. Chapter 17

Like before, Galinda knew that nothing had changed when she woke up the next morning. And yet, somehow, she felt that everything had changed.

The two girls said nothing as they got ready for the day. It was Saturday, which meant a day of flirting and laughter for Galinda, and hours of peaceful reading for Elphaba. This was their routine. There had never been a desire to change it. So why did this particular morning feel different?

A light knocking at the door broke through the ever-growing silence in the room. Galinda jumped, a little startled, and shuffled to the door.

“Galinda!” came the squeals from the hallway.

“Are you ready?” Shenshen asked. “Avaric’s planning a picnic near the lake.”

“It’ll be so much fun!” Milla exclaimed, nearly jumping up and down in her excitement.

Elphaba had always counted herself as a morning person, but that didn’t stop her from thinking there was something unnatural about someone who could be that enthusiastic so early in the day.

“ _And_ I hear that a certain Winkie prince will be there,” Pfannee said, winking. Galinda’s cheeks reddened, but she hurriedly grabbed her purse and skipped out the door after her friends. As they started down the hallway, Pfannee said in a loud whisper, “You can thank us for saving you from the artichoke later.”

Galinda looked over her shoulder into her room, fully intending to mouth an apology, but Elphaba was already at the door, slamming it shut. Galinda winced at the sound.

“Oops,” said Milla. “I think she heard you.”

“Oh no.” Pfannee rolled her eyes. “I didn’t realize the vegetable had feelings.”

“Of course she has feelings,” Galinda said, crossing her arms. “She’s _green,_ not heartless.”

Pfannee ignored her and kept walking. Shenshen glanced between the two of them, twisting her fingers together nervously.

 

***

 

_Good riddance,_ Elphaba thought as the girls’ footsteps died away. She smiled to herself as a feeling of emptiness settled into the room. Saturdays had been her favorite day ever since she arrived at Shiz. The rest of the campus spent the day socializing, leaving Elphaba free to her own thoughts. So, like every other weekend, she grabbed her latest book and settled back into her bed, letting the feeling of solitary peace wash over her.

But it never did.

Elphaba couldn’t focus on the page. She was forced to reread every paragraph. It wasn’t that the book was boring—it had captivated her from the moment she picked it up yesterday morning. She just couldn’t pay attention. There were no sounds coming from the rest of Crage Hall. Even outside her window, the campus was quiet. So what was bothering her?

She stood up, shaking her head. If she couldn’t focus here, she would just go to the library. She slipped on her boots, grabbed her bag, and headed across campus.

It was a cool yet bright day—autumn had settled in around campus, but it wouldn’t be long before it was gone. Most of the students at Shiz were putting their time to good use before winter and final exams started to set in. Elphaba guessed that a lot of them had gone to town, or maybe they were picnicking around the lake, like Galinda and her friends. She shook the thought out of her head, relieved to see the library’s front doors come into view.

The dark wooden shelves immediately calmed her down. No one else was here. Elphaba found the large padded chair in her usual corner and curled up in it, losing herself in the smell of paper and leather. She opened her book and dove into the story.

Her mental vacation didn’t last long, though. After only a few pages, she found herself unable to focus once more. With a small, frustrated groan, she stood and stretched, tucking the book back into her bag. Her stomach grumbled, and she decided that maybe a small breakfast from the café wouldn’t be such a bad idea.

Thankfully, most of the breakfast crowd had disappeared. Elphaba grabbed a cup of fruit from the counter and headed back outside. Not even she was immune to the luxury of the sun beaming warmly down on the campus.

Her feet carried her aimlessly through the campus. She strolled around her favorite buildings, admiring the ivy growing up the old, faded brick. Before she knew it, she was staring out at the lake. A light breeze excited the water, sending ripples through the chilly blue. Dozens of teenagers were camped out at the far end, near the docks. Elphaba could see large blankets laid out across grass, baskets of cold drinks, pale legs dangling over the sides of the pier.

What it must be like, hanging out with your friends, not having a single care in the world. How did it feel to have someone to laugh with—to have an entire _group_ of people? Elphaba took an involuntary step forward, her eyes full of longing.

She froze, looking down at herself. She would sooner fit in with the grass than with any of the people here. Her stomach twisted, and she threw the last of her fruit away with a noise of disgust.

A high, bell-like laugh made her stop and look around. Sure enough, a little blonde head could be found on the lake shore, surrounded by half a dozen or so others. Galinda and her friends had settled away from the docks, a mere fifty feet from where Elphaba stood obscured by the trees.

She should turn around. She should head back to the library, to her room, to anywhere but here. But something held her in place. She gazed at her roommate’s little party. It was stupid—pathetic, even—to ever think that Galinda could be her friend. She would always go back to Pfannee and the others. But what was so alluring about them? Why, Elphaba wondered, did Galinda love them so?

Curiosity drove her forward, carrying her quietly through the trees until she was forty feet away. She froze suddenly. What was she _doing_? There was nothing for her here. No friends. No acceptance. But then she was walking again. Thirty feet away. She leaned against a tree, holding it for support, silently begging it to lend her some of its steadiness. In a trance, she took a few more steps. Twenty feet.

But then she stopped.

Elphaba’s breath caught in her throat as she peered through the sheet of branches in front of her.

Pfannee was leaning heavily on Avaric, batting thick eyelashes at him. Milla sat in a similar position beside another boy. He said something to her and she pouted, sticking her bottom lip out and puffing her cheeks slightly. Elphaba noted that Galinda pulled off the look much better. The boy seemed unimpressed. Shenshen sat with her knees to her chest, smiling bashfully at the boy beside her. They didn’t touch, but the boy kept glancing at her chest. Elphaba made a small noise of disgust. A little ways off, the young Winkie prince lay in the grass, his arms crossed behind his head. Galinda lay next to him, staring up at the brilliant blue sky. His eyes never left her face, and she kept turning to look at him. Her eyes sparkled. Her cheeks were a soft, rosy pink. Elphaba had never seen her so happy.

The scene before her was so simple, so casual, yet she clung to every detail. The cream-colored blanket, the little white flowers that the girls had tied into their hair, the casual arrogance that the boys put on, the high-pitched giggles. None of it seemed overly spectacular, but she was mesmerized. It was almost like looking into one of her books, witnessing first-hand the kind of story she could never be a part of.

Her shoulders hunched. She felt, suddenly, as if her heart had vanished, leaving the rest of her chest to cave in around the dark void that had taken its place. Her gaze hit the ground, and she couldn’t bring herself to look back up.

She blamed her roommate for this. The perky blonde had stopped loathing her—had even been _nice_ to her—and now she had foolishly gotten her hopes up. Her walls had come down, just a little, and now she was left wishing for something that would never be hers.

But what had she expected? That Galinda would look up and see her and ask her to join them? Ridiculous. Really, what had she been thinking when she decided to go to Shiz in the first place? Did she expect some official club of green people to welcome her into their midst? No. She knew better than that. A breeze swept through the trees around her. She hugged her elbows, shivering slightly. Time to go home. _You shouldn’t have come here in the first place,_ she told herself.

She couldn’t be sure if she meant the lake, or something greater.

 

***

 

Galinda walked down the hall toward her room in a trance. She could still smell the subtle hint of expensive oils that hung on Fiyero. She could still feel the calluses on his palm, his fingers sliding gently over her smoother skin. She could still see him on the steps of Crage Hall leaning in, pulling her face gently closer.

She had turned her head at the last minute, leaving him to kiss her on the cheek. She wasn’t sure why she had felt so hesitant, but he just chuckled and bade her good night. Perhaps it was because Pfannee and Avaric were still out at the lake, doing Oz knows what under the night sky. Perhaps it was the fact that Milla and her boy took off hours ago, and hadn’t been seen since. Or maybe it was the thought of Shenshen leaving early, alone, because the boy she had been talking to had shoved his hands up her shirt even after she told him to leave her alone. Whatever the reason, Galinda wasn’t ready to jump into things with Fiyero.

But that didn’t stop her mind from reliving every single second of the day.

Galinda walked into her room, unaware of the dreamy smile that was still on her face. “Good evening,” she said happily. Elphaba looked up from her book. She was sitting in bed, the sheets pulled over her legs, exactly as she had been this morning. She raised an eyebrow at the look on Galinda’s face.

_Oz, what’s with her?_ She almost opened her mouth to say something, but then thought better of it. _You’re not friends._ She had to remember that.

Galinda flopped onto her bed, staring up at the ceiling. She lifted her head to look at her roommate. “Wait, have you been sitting there all day?”

“No.”

“Well, what did you do?”

Elphaba looked back down at her book. “Oh, you know. Went to the library. Took a walk around…around campus.”

_Is she blushing?_ Galinda thought, propping herself up on one elbow. Indeed, Elphaba’s cheeks had turned a deeper green. Galinda thought about how the color matched her favorite pine trees in winter. Then she shook her head, her own cheeks starting to burn. “Gosh, Elphie. You need to get out more.”

Elphaba scowled into her book, choosing not to respond. Galinda blushed even more, realizing too late how stupid and insensitive her remark was. “I-I just meant—”

“Yeah. I know.” The green girl’s voice was low. She cleared her throat, trying hopelessly to dislodge the weight that had settled in her chest. “So, uh, how was your day?” Elphaba hoped she sounded less stupid than she thought.

Galinda didn’t notice the awkwardness. She was immediately wrapped up in memories of the day. The sunlight dancing across the lake, the light breeze that whipped her hair around, giving Fiyero an excuse to play with it, Fiyero’s sun-bronzed skin, the subtle hint of muscle in his arms, his eyes smiling down at her, his—

Elphaba snorted, turning back to her book. Galinda’s eyes focused again. “It was…good.” She swallowed at the lame response. “I mean, I had lots of fun.”

Elphaba just nodded in response, never looking up from her reading. Galinda watched her for a moment, but it seemed as if that was the end of their talking for the night. The blonde wondered if they would ever again have a conversation like the night before. It was the first time she had talked with someone—actually, deeply talked _with_ someone—in months. In fact, the only similar conversations she could recall were with her Ama. Galinda felt a little queasy all of a sudden. How meaningless had her life become, that such a simple thing was so rare? Had she really forgotten what it was like to actually get to know someone instead of just pretending to fit in? Was she really just some petty, spoiled rich girl?

Horrible thoughts came crashing down on her. No wonder Elphaba never liked her. Pfannee, Milla, Shenshen—all of the people she thought of as friends now—they were all the same. Self-centered. Shallow. Ignorant. But Elphaba was different. Sure, her family had money and power, but she saw through all the pretenses. She didn’t judge someone based on their social standing or their looks. She had only ever cared about what was beneath other people’s skin.

And she had only ever been judged by the color of her own.

Galinda jumped up from her bed and ran into the bathroom, nearly slamming the door behind her. Elphaba looked up, raising an eyebrow. She doubted she would ever understand her roommate. She had thought, at the beginning of the year, that Galinda was just like the others, but she was wrong. And it wasn’t just last night or the whole incident with the water, Elphaba realized. It was much more than that. Subtle things that made her stand out, but only if you cared to look. Galinda tried harder in her classes, although she pretended not to. She did her best to be sweet to everyone. In fact, the only person she had ever openly opposed was Elphaba, and in all honesty, Elphaba had given her hell right back. She didn’t look down her nose at the people around her, unlike many of her friends. She thought herself to be just like them, but she wasn’t. Not really. Not quite.

Elphaba was dragged from her quiet musings when the bathroom door opened and Galinda appeared, dressed in her night clothes and looking downright miserable. The green girl glanced quickly away, not bold enough to ask what was wrong. Galinda didn’t seem to notice. She just crawled into her bed and wrapped herself tightly in the blankets, facing away from her roommate.

Elphaba watched her, her brow furrowing. What had gotten into the usually bubbly girl? She had seemed to be in a better mood during the storm last night. What had happened today to bother the girl so? But then again, Galinda was just smiling to herself like a fool about the events of the day. So what was it? Did Elphaba do something to set her off?

_But I’ve just been sitting here,_ she thought. Her fingers twisted around the hem of her sheet. The book lay forgotten in her lap as she stared at Galinda. Over and over again she opened her mouth, but she could never think of anything to say. _You’re not friends,_ she all but snarled mentally. Her jaw set, she picked up the book and propped it up in her lap with unnecessary force. But like this morning, she couldn’t focus on a single word. She kept sneaking glances at Galinda. Tension was rolling off of the blonde’s petite figure. Her shoulders stayed hunched and tight beneath the covers. With a vague feeling of helplessness, Elphaba leaned over and blew out the lantern. Maybe the darkness would help Galinda fall asleep in peace. Trying to be as silent as possible, Elphaba lay down on her side, still facing Galinda.

_Fresh dreams, Galinda,_ she thought. Then she closed her eyes and forced herself to think about the book she was reading. She allowed her thoughts to get lost in the characters, mulling over their problems instead of dwelling on her own.

After a few hours, Galinda’s breath deepened and evened out. As soon as her roommate was out, Elphaba’s mind turned off and she, too, fell asleep.


	18. Chapter 18

Galinda woke the next morning, wanting nothing more than to get out of the room. Without moving, she glanced at the clock on the wall. It was early—far earlier than she usually woke up on the weekends. She had a few hours before the girls would come looking for her, but for some inexplicable reason, she didn’t want to face them today. She didn’t want to face anyone. Not her friends, not Fiyero, and _especially_ not Elphaba.

She slid quietly out of her bed, praying that her green roommate was still asleep. But when she chanced a glance at Elphaba’s bed, it was empty. A faint smile tugged at her lips. Of course it was. Elphaba was always up before her, and it didn’t surprise Galinda at all that she could slip out of the room without waking her.

Shivering slightly, Galinda went to her dresser and pulled out a skirt and blouse. She glanced out the window, looking up at the pale sky, and added a scarf to the outfit. Despite yesterday’s nice weather, it was high time they accepted the fact that summer was gone for the year. The blonde clutched her scarf happily. Something about the thought of snow trickling down onto the campus made her giddy. Unlike the rest of her friends, Galinda _loved_ winter.

Unlike the rest of her friends. The thought tore at her heart, chasing away the last of her good feelings. She wasn’t entirely sure anymore if she _wanted_ to be like her friends. But what was she like otherwise? Who was she if not Galinda Upland, professional rich girl and darling of Shiz University?

Galinda felt like she was suffocating. She dressed quickly and grabbed her key, desperate to get out of the dorm. She needed to spend the day by herself, she decided. Somewhere where no one knew her—where no one knew Galinda Upland, professional fraud and darling of everyone who didn’t actually know her.

She didn’t even think about where she was going as she hurried through the front gates of campus and into the half-asleep streets that led to town.

 

***

 

Elphaba hummed quietly to herself as she wandered around the older sections of campus. The morning was deliciously cool and crisp. The campus was still asleep and would be for a while yet. It was times like these that she could forget about everything. She could admire Shiz up close, ignoring the fact that no one wanted her there. When she was alone, the campus welcomed her. This morning, Shiz University was hers and hers alone.

Elphaba had been taking these walks since she first arrived at campus. Every time was the same: wake up early, put on a comfortable outfit, and slip out of the room without so much as a stir from Galinda. Until recently, she would always laugh as she stepped outside, imagining the endless pranks she could pull while moving silently about their room—if only she were a bit crueler. But the thought of a morning alone with her Shiz was always more tempting.

This morning, however, she didn’t think of ways to torment Galinda. All she could think of was what the blonde would be like when she woke up. Would she still be upset and tense, like last night? Or would she have forgotten all about it? Elphaba shook her head, still dumbfounded about the sudden mood change of her roommate. Would she be troubled when she woke up to find Elphaba gone?

_Don’t be stupid._ Elphaba crossed her arms over her chest, a corner of her mouth turned down. She had thought too much about her roommate the last couple of weeks. Today was just for her. She took a deep breath and held it, counting slowly. When she exhaled, her mind had settled. She began walking again, not entirely sure of when she had stopped. The tune she was humming came back again and she continued it, smiling at the vague memory of Nanny teaching it to her on their old piano.

She stopped by the café around noon to grab a small sandwich, but then kept walking. Elphaba wouldn’t be surprised if she knew the campus better than any other student—and possibly some of the staff, as well. She knew just where to go to avoid seeing anyone. So it startled her a bit when she heard a voice call out her name.

“Miss Elphaba?”

She turned and grinned as she saw Dr. Dillamond trotting down the steps of the history building.

“Good afternoon, Dr. Dillamond.”

“And to you, Miss Elphaba. Are you going anywhere?”

“No, sir. Just enjoying my Sunday.”

She saw a smile spread beneath her teacher’s beard. “Would you mind if I joined you? This old Goat needs some exercise.”

Elphaba laughed. “Not at all, sir.”

The pair set off around campus. Dr. Dillamond followed Elphaba’s lead as she stayed clear of the more crowded areas. As they walked, they discussed nothing but history and life science. Elphaba was grateful when the Goat didn’t mention the promise she had made, and she gladly immersed herself in the conversation.

Beside her, Dr. Dillamond was soaking up every minute of the afternoon. He loved Shiz University with all of his Animal heart—from the students that seemed to get younger every year to the ivy-covered buildings that never stopped getting older. In his own, quiet way, he was saying goodbye. But not to Elphaba, of course. No. For her, he kept smiling and debating the finer points of his field of knowledge. The time would come, all too quickly, for them to say goodbye. But this peaceful Sunday afternoon wasn’t it.

So Elphaba walked alongside her favorite teacher, knowing that it was just a simple afternoon, yet feeling sure that it would always be part of her fondest memories.

 

***

 

Galinda sat outside a small café, her hands wrapped tightly around a steaming mug of tea. She watched as the streets began to fill with life. An elderly couple came out to sit on their porch, their wrinkled hands intertwined. Two men were haggling over the price of a coat, and a small group of women were admiring a rack of jewelry. A trio of young Badgers ran out of a house down the street, their high-pitched squeals livening up the town as they chased each other around their front yard.

A couple weeks ago, Galinda would have wrinkled her nose and left the area. She had always shared the upper class’s disdain for Animals, blindly following the idea that they were a disruptive stain on proper society. But now, as she watched the two older Badgers take turns giving rides to their younger sibling, she couldn’t help but smile. Why, they were just like any group of siblings. Surely no harm could come from something so peaceful—so _good._

She had always despised Dr. Dillamond, and not just because he had never once pronounced her name right. She considered him to be a clueless old Goat who had no reason to be at the school. But during the last week or so she had actually paid attention in class, and what she had learned astounded her. Not just the history itself, but also the fact that Dr. Dillamond _knew_ so much. He could answer every question as if he had been there himself. Perhaps that was why she had put forth effort into her last paper. For the first time in her life, she had actually _cared_ about what they were learning.

Galinda pushed her fingers to her temples, glad that no one could hear her thoughts. She could just see the look of disgusted horror on Pfannee’s face if she ever discovered Galinda’s fondness of some Badger children. Oz, what would Fiyero think of her? She imagined him backing away slowly, his eyes casting about for an escape from her sudden insanity. Galinda actually giggled a little at the image, surprising herself.

And Elphaba. How would the intelligent green woman respond? Galinda could picture it clearly. She would snort, rolling her eyes with a snarky _I told you so._ Then she would just turn and walk away. Somehow, Galinda felt that Elphaba’s reaction would hurt most of all.

Galinda stood, leaving a few coins next to the mostly full mug on the table. She didn’t really want to go anywhere, but she didn’t want to stay here, either. She felt exhausted all of a sudden, even though she had done nothing all morning except think. _Over thinking could kill you,_ she decided miserably.

So that’s what she did all day, arguing with herself back and forth. What did she want? She didn’t know. Or maybe she did—that was even worse. Part of her wanted nothing to change. She could keep being rich Galinda, popular Galinda, little darling Galinda. She could make fun of her teachers with her friends and go on picnics with Fiyero. She could smile sweetly at the world and dance through her life without a single care. That was what she knew. That was what she had been doing for years, and no one could see through the act.

No one, that is, but her Ama.

And Elphaba.

A small groan escaped her lips and she pressed her palms into her eyes. Elphaba knew there was something beneath her painted exterior. She had seen—if only briefly—a deeper part of Galinda. Her hatred of violence and her desire to do good, her fear of storms, the loneliness left by her parents when they were caught up in their duties as Lord and Lady. Elphaba had caught a glimpse of the person Galinda had shoved aside, and it hadn’t changed her opinion of Galinda at all. If anything, the girls had gotten along _better_ because of it.

It would be easy to go back to Shiz and act like nothing had happened. It would be safe to hang out with her friends, to kiss Fiyero, to make fun of Elphaba behind her back. But that wasn’t what she wanted.

_So what_ do _you want?_ she asked herself again. The answer came almost immediately. _Both. I want both._

She wanted to be the bubbly, care-free girl she always was. But at the same time, she was tired of the act. She had only just realized that she was putting on a façade and already she was exhausted by it. But what could she do? Her friends wouldn’t accept this new Galinda. They wouldn’t know what to do with her if she enjoyed her classes and supported Animals and whatever else she would do. New or old, neither side of Galinda wanted to lose her friends.

_Maybe Elphie would be my friend._ But Galinda immediately batted the thought away. She had been too cruel, too spiteful toward Elphaba. From day one, she had loathed her roommate simply because her skin was green. How insignificant. How pathetically shallow. No, Elphaba would never want to be friends with her. Acquaintances, sure. Amiable roommates, hopefully. But never actually friends. Not after all Galinda had done.

And she realized, suddenly, what she truly wanted. She wanted to take it all back. She wanted to start over at the beginning of the year, only this time without the popular act. Galinda thought longingly of what she would do if she could only go back. She would befriend Elphaba and stop everyone from being so mean to her. She would let people in, and make friends with those who actually knew her and liked her for who she was. Oz, she might even accept it when Dr. Dillamond said her name wrong all the time.

But that wasn’t going to happen. She couldn’t go back to the beginning of the year and start over. No, that would be too easy. If she was going to start over, she would have to do it now, on her own, right in front of the people who demanded and expected the popular act. Just the thought of it terrified her. It was impossible. She could never be that brave. Even if she could stand up to her peers, how could she open herself up to that many people? Sweet Lurline, how did Elphaba do it?

And so she went, back and forth, until the sun was starting to dip low on the horizon and she decided, almost subconsciously, that it was time to head back to campus.

 

***

 

Galinda walked into her room and was just about to greet Elphaba when she froze. Her green roommate was sprawled across the bed, eyes closed peacefully. Galinda stood in the doorway, mildly confused but thinking that the sight was slightly adorable. Elphaba’s raven hair was strewn across her back, for once let out of her long braid. Her face was snuggled into her forearm, and her shoulders rose and fell with every deep breath. Galinda thought she had never seen her roommate so relaxed.

It was strange, though, for the green girl to be asleep so early. Galinda was under the impression that Elphaba didn’t actually need sleep, but only rested a couple hours each night out of sheer boredom. Her theory was ridiculous, of course, but it amused her all the same.

She crept into the room, closing the door softly behind her. Elphaba’s eyes shot open.

“Sorry!” Galinda said in a hushed voice. “I-I didn’t mean to wake you, I— _Oz,_ you’re a light sleeper.”

Elphaba smirked and sat up. “Don’t worry about it. I don’t even remember falling asleep.”

“Have you _ever_ slept during the day?” The question spilled out of Galinda’s mouth.

The green girl rubbed her eyes and stifled a yawn. “Technically it’s dark outside, so no. I was just tired from walking around all day.”

“Where’d you go?” Had Elphaba been in town today, too?

“Just around campus.”

“Oh.” For some odd reason, Galinda’s face fell a little. But then she shook her head and turned away, busying herself with her purse.

“So what did you do all day?” Elphaba asked, hoping her roommate couldn’t hear the embarrassment in her voice. She hadn’t expected to fall asleep, or to be caught by the blonde.

Galinda paused for a moment. “I just…went to town.”

Elphaba raised an eyebrow. Her shopaholic roommate had gone to town and returned without a single bag? “Did…you guys have fun?”

The blonde tilted her head, blinking slowly. “What? Oh. Um, no. It was just me.”

Now Elphaba’s brow furrowed. Her shopaholic, blonde socialite of a roommate had spent an entire day in town, alone and not shopping. But instead of pressing Galinda for answers, she just shrugged and rolled out of bed. Something was off about the blonde tonight. She had an air of vulnerability around her, as if one wrong question would shatter her to pieces. So instead, Elphaba did what she did best—avoided social interaction with a book.

Galinda bit her lip as Elphaba grabbed a book and settled back into bed, feeling strangely, achingly, as if she’d been dismissed. She swallowed hard, shoving her racing thoughts down. Everything she had been wrestling with all day came swirling to the surface, threatening to burst through. Galinda took a deep breath and forced herself to walk to the bathroom at a reasonable pace.

She closed the door behind her and sank to the ground against it, wiping furiously at her stinging eyes. She could just hear Pfannee’s high-pitched laughter. _What, you’re crying over the vegetable now?_ Galinda hugged her knees to her chest and buried her face in her arms, choking down sobs. She was sick of it. She couldn’t put up with the cruelty and the pretenses anymore. But she just wasn’t good enough to just leave it all behind.

_Oz, and you think you’re better than the others,_ a voice snarled in her head. It was true. She was no better than Pfannee or Milla or any of them. If anything, she was worse. She was well aware of how awful they acted, and yet she couldn’t bring herself to change.

Elphaba glanced at the bathroom. There was no sound coming from behind the closed door, but something felt wrong. Slowly, she set her book down and crossed the room. She stopped outside the door, her hand half-raised to knock. Whatever she was going to say stuck in her throat. Her brow furrowed and she silently berated herself. “Miss…Galinda?”

There was no answer, although Elphaba could have sworn she heard a sniff. She swallowed hard. “Galinda…what..?”

The green girl closed her mouth, realizing suddenly that it was hopeless. She pressed a hand to her heart, feeling her chest tighten unexpectedly. She didn’t know what was wrong. All she knew was that she couldn’t stand the thought of Galinda hurt and alone on the other side of the door.

Exhaling heavily, she leaned against the door and slid to the ground. Her eyes closed as she pressed her head back against the wood. When she opened them again, she saw marks from where her nails had dug into her palms. She had succeeded all day in keeping her blonde roommate out of her head, but now it all came crashing back down on her, leaving her completely useless. Not for the first time, she hoped that Galinda’s friendlier attitude toward her was just a phase. No one, especially not sweet, happy Galinda, deserved a friend as terrible as she was.

The roommates stayed that way until nearly dawn. Galinda rocked herself gently back and forth, wishing she could just stay hidden in the small bathroom until the Unnamed God took her soul. Elphaba sat outside the bathroom as if guarding it, desperately wanting but unable to say a word to her roommate. Neither one ever came close to sleep, but they weren’t exactly conscious, either. They just stayed where they were, marveling at the vast, unbearable miseries that plagued their room that night.

 

***

 

The first promises of sunlight began to tint the dark sky, and with them came some sort of rational thought. Galinda uncurled herself and stood, praying that Elphaba had fallen asleep quickly last night. How was she supposed to explain why she spent all night curled up in the bathroom? She winced at the tightness in her legs and rubbed her face. She must look like such a mess. She stumbled over to the sink and reached for a few of her makeup jars, glaring at her reflection—red, puffy eyes, tangled hair…Oz, her lip was even still trembling. She let out a noise of frustration and spun away from the mirror, throwing her makeup across the room. The sound of shattering glass echoed as her creams and powders exploded against the wall.

Elphaba jumped up at the sound, her hand reaching for the doorknob. She tried to call her roommate’s name, but her voice died out before she could make a sound. She stood frozen outside of the bathroom, listening intently. After a moment, she could make out the faint sound of footsteps. The green girl sighed and stumbled back to her bed, rubbing her eyes with a little more force than usual. A little bit of sun was starting to break into the morning. Elphaba looked out the window.

All night. All night she sat outside the bathroom, and yet she hadn’t said a word to Galinda. Hell and Oz, the poor girl probably cried herself to sleep in there, and still Elphaba couldn’t gather the courage to comfort her.

Growling under her breath, she went to her wardrobe and yanked out some clothes. She dressed without paying any attention and shoved on some boots. It was hours before her first class, but she couldn’t bear the idea of facing her roommate right now. Fingers moving deftly, she combed through her hair and braided it. She had thrown on her bag and was almost out of the room when she stopped, turning back toward the locked door of the bathroom.

“I’m sorry, Galinda,” she breathed.

Then she left.


	19. Chapter 19

Galinda knew she looked horrible. She saw it in the faces of everyone who passed her on the way to her first class. Some people didn’t even recognize her without her usual frilly dress and styled hair, but those who did gaped at her. She didn’t even bother looking up at them. She could only imagine what they would say. Her tangled blonde hair was tied back in a loose knot and she wore a long, baggy sweater, which she hugged tightly to herself. Most of her makeup was lying in a dustpan back in her room, and she hadn’t bothered with anything more than a little blush. Considering how horrible she _felt,_ she thought her appearance was actually pretty good.

It had taken all of her courage to step out of the bathroom that morning, and she was startled to find Elphaba already gone. Still, she had allowed herself a little relief before remembering that they had their first class—history—together.

Galinda walked into the classroom earlier than usual, hoping it to be empty. It was, of course, except for one person. Galinda hesitated, wondering if she could slip back out of the room unnoticed. Her hopes were dashed, however, when Elphaba looked up from her book.

_Of all the times to stop reading, she chooses now,_ Galinda thought sourly. But she just sighed and set her bag down on a table in the back, trying to ignore Elphaba’s gaze.

“Galinda…”

“You were out of the room early this morning.”

The green girl winced, though Galinda wasn’t sure why. Elphaba cleared her throat, still gripping her book tightly. “Galinda…last night, I…”

“What about last night?” the blonde asked innocently. Her eyes stayed focused on the table.

Elphaba searched desperately for something to say. Since when was she so damn inarticulate?

“Galinda!”

Both girls turned at the near-shriek of a greeting. Shenshen was standing in the doorway, staring at the blonde.

“Morning, Shenshen,” Galinda mumbled, sinking into her chair. The other girl walked up to her slowly.

“What in Oz happened to you?”

“I…overslept.” Galinda risked a glance over at Elphaba, who had returned to her book.

“You could have just skipped class,” Pfannee said, entering the room behind a quiet, wide-eyed Milla. “That’s what I would have done.”

_But I don’t want to be like you,_ Galinda thought. “I couldn’t, I…” Galinda hesitated, trying to come up with an excuse. “I’m…not doing so well in this class.”

Shenshen grabbed her hand. “You’re not the only one,” she said gently, offering Galinda a small smile. “That paper took me all of last night to write!”

“Besides, it must be hard to sleep with _that_ in your room,” Milla added, scowling at the front corner. Pfannee snickered.

Elphaba didn’t acknowledge them. Galinda glanced at her. “No,” the blonde said, shaking her head. “She has nothing to do with it.”

“Don’t be embarrassed, Miss Galinda,” Pfannee said. “We’d all have nightmares too if we were forced to room with a moldy freak.”

“Do you think _she_ has nightmares?” Milla whispered, not bothering to actually keep her voice down.

“Ooo, I’m sure!” Pfannee said delightedly. “I bet she wakes up screaming because she was being chased by buckets of _water_.”

Galinda clenched her fists and opened her mouth to respond, but at that moment the bell echoed through Shiz, chiming the hour. The rest of their classmates filed into the room in varying states of exhaustion. But as they all settled in and waited for Dr. Dillamond, a strange energy began to fill the room.

“Where is the old Goat?” Shenshen asked eventually, glancing at the clock on the wall. “Class started nearly ten minutes ago.”

Elphaba looked up for the first time since Shenshen had walked in—though she hadn’t read a word since Galinda appeared. Her brow furrowed. It wasn’t like Dr. Dillamond to be late. He couldn’t be sick, either. He had seemed perfectly fine yesterday.

“See, Galinda? You could have skipped class after all.”

Elphaba looked over to see Galinda shifting uncomfortably in her seat as her friends stared at her.

“We should just leave now,” Pfannee sighed, leaning back in her chair. Elphaba rolled her eyes at the girl’s melodrama. “We could go back to Crage Hall and find you something actually decent to wear, Galinda.”

Galinda felt the blood rise to her cheeks and she looked away, wrapping her hands in the excess fabric of her sweater. She wanted to tell Pfannee that she actually loved this sweater—that it was warm and comfortable and it made her feel safe, but she couldn’t even begin to find the words.

Elphaba hadn’t looked away from them yet. She took in her roommate’s appearance again, frowning slightly when she saw Galinda hug her sweater closer to herself. The green girl clenched her fists, but then smoothed her hands out over her pants. Should she do something, or would that only embarrass the blonde even more?

“Who cares what she’s wearing?” said a small voice. “I think you look as lovely as ever, Miss Galinda.” Boq blushed heavily, realizing that the entire classroom was now staring at him, but he just crossed his arms and stared defiantly at them. Elphaba’s face softened as she watched him, and she was glad that somebody had the courage to say something.

“Thank you,” Galinda said softly, her cheeks still pink. There might have been a long, unbearably awkward silence after that—or maybe an explosion, as Pfannee looked like she was itching to hit someone—but the moment was broken by the sound of hooves against stone.

“Dr. Dillamond!”

“Sorry I’m so late, class,” the Goat said as he walked in. He was moving slower than usual, and Elphaba saw something in his eyes that made the back of her neck prickle. “I had a couple of things to attend to before…”

“Before what, sir?” someone asked.

Dr. Dillamond looked at each and every one of his students, but his gaze didn’t quite meet Elphaba’s. Something was wrong. Her mind reeled as several thoughts began racing through her head, colliding with each other in an attempt to come up with an explanation for this strange behavior. Only a few stood out, clear as day: there were no other Animals teaching at the school. In fact, there were hardly any Animals in professional jobs anywhere. Their rights had been slowly fading away.

Dr. Dillamond had been fighting for those rights for years.

The Goat’s beard twitched. “Class, I…”

“No,” Elphaba breathed. Several heads turned toward her, including—finally—Dr. Dillamond’s. Their eyes met, and that was all the answer she needed.

When the teacher spoke again, he said the words directly to her. “This university is and always will be my home, and it has been a privilege to teach and learn from you all. But I’m afraid my time has come to leave Shiz.”

Gasps and murmurs ran through the room, but Elphaba didn’t even notice them. She was shaking her head silently, unaware of anything but herself and Dr. Dillamond. Her favorite teacher, the only person at Shiz who understood her, who cared about her exactly the way she was, the Goat who taught her and inspired her with so many new ideas…he couldn’t be going.

Why? Why would he leave? It didn’t make any sense. Dr. Dillamond loved teaching history. At Shiz, he had unlimited resources to do his research and carry out his work. He couldn’t just leave. He wouldn’t. He—

“They’re making you.” The words slipped out of Elphaba before they had even fully registered in her mind. No one else heard but Dr. Dillamond. He inclined his head slightly, still looking her in the eyes.

“There is a lot we never covered in this class,” he said, addressing the entire room once more. “But I hope that, if there is one thing you have learned from me, it is how to think for yourself and apply everything you learn to your life.”

“ _No._ ”

Dr. Dillamond shot a look at Elphaba. “There’s nothing left for me to do. Class is dismissed. Thank you all.”

Chairs scraped the ground as everyone stood to leave the classroom, all talking urgently amongst themselves.

Elphaba hadn’t moved. _No._ The one word resounded in her mind, and she wasn’t sure if she was still repeating it or just thinking it. The room grew quiet as Dr. Dillamond walked over to her.

“Elphaba, my dear…”

“No!” Elphaba jumped up from her seat and walked agitatedly to the board at the front of the room. She turned on her heel and faced her teacher again. “They can’t make you leave!”

“The deed is done, Elphaba,” the Goat sighed, watching her.

“But you’re the best teacher at Shiz! Why would they—who would—”

Galinda watched from the doorway as Elphaba paced back and forth. Neither her roommate nor her teacher had noticed her still lingering there. Pfannee and the others had hurried out of the room excitedly, no doubt already swapping rumors about what happened. She wondered if any of them actually cared, or if they were just reveling in the new gossip. Elphaba turned around again and looked up. Her eyes widened when she caught sight of Galinda, but that was the only reaction she gave. The blonde wrung her hands together, eyes flickering between the hallway and her roommate.

Elphaba tore her gaze away from Galinda. Whatever reason the blonde had for staying, she didn’t care. She _couldn’t_ care right now. There were too many unanswered questions already. Who was making Dr. Dillamond leave? Sure, he wasn’t always popular with his first year students, but nearly everyone else held the utmost respect for him. Older students cherished what they learned from him. The staff around campus were all friendly with him. Even the other teachers admired the way he led his classes. Well, all of them but one certain sorcery instructor…

“Morrible,” Elphaba whispered, coming to a stop in front of Dr. Dillamond. The Goat shuffled nervously and his eyes darted around. “She did this.”

“Yes.”

“But _why?_ ”

“Think, Elphaba,” Dr. Dillamond said, his voice low and urgent. “Why would our Madame Head want to get rid of me?”

“Because you’re an Animal.” The answer was obvious, but the meaning behind it was as confusing as ever. “But _why?_ Everyone accepts it here. Why would she do something about it _now,_ years after you began teaching?”

The Goat opened his mouth but then clamped it shut, shaking his head. Elphaba’s brow furrowed. “You know,” she said. “You know, but you won’t tell me.”

“Elphaba. Listen to me. Do you think it would be wise to butt heads with Madame Morrible?”

“She’s just a teacher,” Elphaba mumbled.

“Come now, you’re smarter than that. You know there’s something more to her than what she wants us to see. Do not fight this, my dear. It will only end badly for you.”

“But you leaving will end badly for all of Shiz!”

“Stay away from her, Elphaba.” Dillamond’s voice was hard. “You don’t know what you’re up against.”

“She can’t get away with this. And I’m not helpless.” Elphaba crossed her arms over her chest and scowled.

“Indeed not,” Dr. Dillamond said, turning away from her. She watched, her brow furrowing even deeper, as he walked to his desk and dug through the bottom drawer. “Come here,” he said suddenly.

Elphaba did as she was told, her feet carrying her slowly to her teacher. Dr. Dillamond pulled out a small, worn book and handed it to her. She moved to open it, but he placed a hoof over her hand. When she looked up, he was shaking his head slightly. Slowly, she slipped the book into her bag. Elphaba stared at him, trying to understand the strange light that danced in his eyes.

Galinda walked over to Dr. Dillamond’s desk, unable to stand hovering in the doorway any longer. She had barely heard a word they said. All she knew was that Morrible was involved and Elphaba was upset. And she could only imagine the rash things Elphaba did when she was upset.

Elphaba was kneeling in front of her teacher, a thousand emotions flickering across her face as she stared at him. Galinda wondered if she should have left, but it was too late now. Slowly, she knelt next to her roommate.

“Do…do you really have to leave?” she asked, looking at the Goat. His eyes crinkled, smiling at her.

“I’m afraid so.”

“When?” Elphaba’s voice was rougher than usual, betraying the emotions she usually held in check.

“I will be gone before the next class starts.”

Elphaba leaned back as if she had been struck. “Wh-what? Why so suddenly?” Dr. Dillamond chose not to answer, but Elphaba already knew. “Of course. The less people who know you’re leaving, the easier it’ll be for her.”

“I refused to leave before this class, but I couldn’t push it back any longer.”

Elphaba just shook her head, hugging her elbows. “No.”

The toll of a bell echoed once across campus, marking the half hour. “I have to go,” Dr. Dillamond said, straightening.

“I’ll walk out with you,” Elphaba said wildly, jumping to her feet.

The old Goat opened his mouth, but Galinda cut him off. “I will, too.”

Both her roommate and her teacher raised their eyebrows, but Galinda ignored them. Dr. Dillamond just shook his head. “I suppose you are both too stubborn to argue with,” he sighed.

The three of them left the classroom. Elphaba broke stride as they passed through the door, looking over her shoulder. Galinda touched her arm gently. “Elphie?”

But Elphaba pulled back and turned away, following Dr. Dillamond.

They walked along smaller, less used roads, and they didn’t meet anyone the entire way across campus. As they neared the gates, Dr. Dillamond stopped and turned to face them. He looked at Galinda.

“I wanted to tell you, Miss…” he cleared his throat. “My dear…well, you have improved so much in my class these past few weeks. Your last paper was wonderful. I want you to know that I’m proud of you, Miss Gl—Glll—”

Galinda watched her teacher struggle to her say her name correctly. Her shoulders sagged, and she wished desperately that she could be that girl Dr. Dillamond was proud of. “Glinda,” she said softly. “Just Glinda.”

Dr. Dillamond nodded gently. “I’m proud of you, Miss Glinda.” Then he turned to Elphaba, who was glaring at the ground.

“Elphaba.” His voice was soft and kind, like it had been many times before. She felt her throat tighten. “Elphaba, my dear, do you remember what you promised me?”

The green girl nodded slowly, not trusting her voice. He walked up to her and put a hoof on her shoulder. “You will do great things, my dear Miss Elphaba. I know you will.”

She looked up and met his eyes, trying to convey what she couldn’t put in words. But before either of them could speak, they were interrupted by the sound of heavy footsteps approaching.

“Hey!”

The three turned to see half a dozen men walking up to them. They wore dark green uniforms trimmed with gold. Dark helmets sat low on their heads, and each of them had a sword at their hip and a gun strung across their back.

“The Gale Force?” Galinda’s voice was hushed. “What are they doing here?”

“It’s time for me to go,” Dr. Dillamond said quietly. He gave Elphaba one last look, then walked toward the gates. A Gale Force officer reached for him, but he shrugged away. “I know the way, sir. Thank you.”

A ripple of anger ran through the men, and a few placed hands on their swords. “No!” Elphaba exclaimed suddenly, as if realizing for the first time this was really happening. “No, you can’t leave!” She ran toward her teacher, but one of the men turned and stopped her.

“You’re…green!” he exclaimed.

Elphaba growled something unintelligible and tried to move past him, but he grabbed her shoulders and shoved her back. “This doesn’t concern you, girl.”

“Get out of my way!”

The Gale Force man grabbed the hilt of his sword and pulled it halfway out, hitting Elphaba in the gut with it. She stumbled back with a grunt. “I _said_ , this doesn’t concern you.”

Elphaba snarled a curse at him, about to lunge forward. The rest of the men turned, their faces hard as stone. Galinda’s hands covered her mouth as she stared in horror. Elphaba didn’t seem to notice any of it, but before she could move, one voice cut through the chaos.

“Elphaba, _enough._ ”

The green girl froze, staring at her teacher. “Dr. Dillamond…”

He met her eyes, but only for a moment. Then he turned away, walking toward the gate with his head held high. The Gale Force followed him. Her teacher didn’t look back.

“No…”

“Elphaba!” Galinda ran forward as Elphaba sank to her knees on the ground. “Come on, Elphaba, we can’t stay here.”

“Don’t touch me!” she shouted as Galinda knelt next to her. The blonde ignored her, putting a gentle hand on her shoulder.

“Elphie, please…”

“No! He can’t be gone! _No!_ ”

Galinda stared at her roommate, stunned by her sudden lack of control. She noticed—with a terrible, sinking feeling—that the green girl’s dark eyes were glistening.

Elphaba ground her knuckles into the stone beneath her. She couldn’t think. She couldn’t even _breathe._ Dr. Dillamond was gone. He had just _left_ , walking away from her without a backwards glance. He had turned away and _gone_. And all she had left of him was a stupid, falling apart book. A sob tore from her lips as she hunched over, hugging herself tightly. She barely noticed when Galinda wrapped her arms around her.

“Come on. Let’s go.”

“Leave me alone.” Despite her words, she trembled in Galinda’s arms.

“Elphie, stop. Don’t. Y-you can’t cry.” Galinda reached up, wiping the tears from the corners of her roommate’s eyes before they could burn her. Her mind was reeling. Elphaba didn’t cry. Elphaba didn’t fall apart like this. “Come on, Elphaba. Class will be over soon.”

“I don’t care.”

“Yes you do. This place will be full of people. Just…come on, let’s go back to the room.”

When Elphaba didn’t answer, Galinda held her closer and pulled her up to her feet. She wiped more tears from her roommate’s green face, her heart sinking as she saw burn marks.

Elphaba let Galinda lead her away. She didn’t care where she was going. She almost didn’t care that she had completely lost control. She only wanted to curl up in a corner somewhere and never talk to anyone again.

They reached Crage Hall just a few minutes before the bell tolled again, ringing the hour and releasing students from class. Galinda sat Elphaba on her bed and hurried to her desk, pulling out the jar of cream Elphie kept there.

“It’s fine.” Elphaba said, turning away from her. “I don’t need it.”

“Elphie—”

“I said I’m fine!” she snapped. The reality of everything was sinking in on her. Dr. Dillamond was gone. She felt like a child again, watching helplessly as her father kicked Nanny out, leaving her utterly alone. The only people she had ever opened up to were taken away from her. She could feel herself building her walls back up, pushing Galinda out.

_Do you remember what you promised me?_

Elphaba hugged herself tighter as she remembered her teacher’s words. She glanced at her roommate, who was only staring at her with concern. “I-I’m sorry, Galinda.”

“Glinda.”

“What?”

The blonde sank onto the bed next to her. “Glinda. I want to be called…Glinda.”

“Glinda…” Elphaba tested the name, staring at her roommate. “Why did you stay?” she asked suddenly.

Galinda—Glinda looked down at her hands. “I-I don’t know.”

Now Elphaba glanced down. Did it really matter _why_ her roommate was there? “Well, whatever the reason…thank you.”

“I’m so sorry, Elphaba. I know how much he meant to you.”

“Yeah.” Elphaba sighed and rubbed her face in her hands, forgetting the burns. She pulled back with a hiss. Hell and Oz. She hadn’t cried since…well, since Nanny had left. She was disgusted with herself. Groaning, she leaned back against the headboard. She just kept wishing that this was all just a bad dream, and that she would wake up and start the day over, and all her classes would go by normally... She bolted upright again. “Oz! We’re missing class right now!”

Glinda actually giggled. “Elphaba, does it really matter if _you_ skip one class?”

Elphaba stared at her. “I guess not. But what about you? You shouldn’t miss class because of me.”

“I want to stay here. I’m sorry, Elphie, but you’re a mess. And I’m not exactly skipping with joy today, either. Maybe we both need a day off.”

“But what will your friends think?”

“Who cares?”

“You do.”

Glinda swallowed, simultaneously admiring and hating the way Elphaba saw through her. “Well…I suppose I’ll just deal with it when it comes up. For now…” She fell backwards, flopping across the bed. Elphaba made a noise of surprise as the blonde’s hand fell next to hers.

“What’s wrong?”

“Um, this is my bed?”

“So?”

Elphaba tried not to roll her eyes. “Just a couple weeks ago you wouldn’t even go near my things.”

“That was a couple weeks ago,” Glinda said, trying not to let the hurt show in her voice.

Elphaba sighed, leaning against the pillows. “Yeah. Yeah, it was.”

The blonde sat up again, picking at the trim of the dark sheets. “Elphie?”

“Glinda?”

“Are we...do you…I mean…” Glinda sighed, her brow furrowing and her lips pouting slightly.

Elphaba said nothing. She couldn’t even look at her roommate. “I-I’m sorry I left so early this morning. I should have stayed.”

“Why?”

“Why? You locked yourself in the bathroom all night. Oz Glinda, who _wouldn’t_ be worried?”

“You were…worried.” It was supposed to be a question, but the words came out more as a realization.

Elphaba nodded, her lips pressed tightly together. “But I didn’t know what to do, so I…well, anyway. I’m sorry.”

“I’m sorry, too.”

“For what? For being upset last night? That just makes you human, Glinda. You don’t have to apologize for that.”

“I…” Glinda trailed off. She wasn’t apologizing for the night before, or for Dr. Dillamond leaving, or for the way her friends had talked about Elphaba this morning. She was trying to, somehow, apologize for everything. “It’s just…the way I acted last night, and what Pfannee and the others were saying about you this morning…”

“That’s still not your fault.” Elphaba’s dark eyes searched Glinda’s face, as if trying to find what was troubling the blonde.

“No, I mean...” She wasn’t making any sense, and she knew it. But she had to let Elphaba know. If she didn’t say it now, she never would. “It’s…Oh, Elphie, it’s everything! I’m sorry for everything! I’m sorry for all the things Pfannee and Milla and Shenshen and everyone else says, because it’s all my fault. I’m sorry I was so horrible to you at the beginning of the year, and that I encouraged everyone else to act the same. I’m sorry that I _still_ can’t get them to stop—that I don’t even have the courage to try! I’m tired of being this perfect girl everyone thinks I am. I’m tired of being _Galinda._ She’s a terrible person, and I hate her!” Glinda jumped from the bed and stood in the middle of the room, shoving her hands into her hair.

“Oz, Elphaba, it’s no wonder we didn’t get along when we first met. I was fake and shallow and conceited. Even now that I realize how horrible I was, I can’t change! I still sit there and let them say whatever they want. I can’t stand up for you or me or anyone! I’m too afraid to change who I am—I’m terrified of what people would think of me—but I _want_ to. And I’m so sorry that I’ve treated you so horribly for so long, and just because I wanted the attention it got me!” Glinda collapsed onto her own bed, burying her face into the frilly pink pillows. She thought she would be sobbing by now, but she wasn’t—she wasn’t even crying. She could feel the guilt and shame hitting her in waves, drowning her. She expected Elphaba to get mad at her, or to just leave the room and never come back. It was exactly what she deserved.

So it surprised her when she felt the bed shift beside her.

The blonde didn’t look up, though—not even when Elphaba reached out and placed a trembling hand on her shoulder. “Listen to me, Glinda. What people say about me…that’s not your fault. I’ve been receiving dirty looks and harsh comments since the day I was born. I knew Shiz wouldn’t be any different—or at least, I should have. And you can’t take the blame for how we acted at the beginning of the year. I was just as horrible as you, if not worse. And…” Elphaba swallowed hard, hesitating. Since when did she pour her heart out to anyone, let alone her roommate? But she couldn’t have stopped now even if she wanted to. “I’m sorry, too. I judged you just as quickly as you judged me, and for just as petty reasons. Even now, I treat you terribly. I push you away every time you try to get close, and I don’t have the courage or confidence or whatever to try to help you when you come in and lock yourself in the bathroom for the night. I’m sorry, because you deserve a better roommate and a better friend. You deserve to be around someone who isn’t so bitter and cruel and sarcastic and—and _green,_ and—Oz, Glinda, would you please just look at me?”

The blonde rolled over slightly, lifting her face from the pillows. Elphaba was surprised—and immensely relieved—when she didn’t see any sign of tears. The two girls stared at each other, each searching for something in the other’s face.

“You’re not mad at me?” Glinda finally broke the silence in a small voice.

Green lips twitched into the hint of a smirk—the first sign of amusement since her roommate had come into the room the night before. “Why would I be? Oz only knows the pressure you go through. Everybody might hate me, but at least they don’t expect anything from me.”

“I don’t hate you,” Glinda said, sitting up next to her roommate.

Elphaba pulled her hand away. She could feel herself shrinking back, running from any sort of connection. She hurt people, and people hurt her. That’s all her life would ever be, and she had come to accept it. To let anyone stray closer to her would only cause her more pain. Dr. Dillamond had proved that.

And just like that, she felt the grief of losing her teacher all over again. Everything that had happened in the past hour crashed upon her. The only living being to care for her had once again been torn away, and she was left with nothing but her walls. She would push everyone out if it meant not dealing with this agony ever again. But then…Dr. Dillamond had also brought her better feelings, hadn’t he? He had provided comfort and understanding and companionship. Was that enough to outweigh the loss?

She was vaguely aware of Glinda’s eyes on her. Glinda, who was trying so hard to overcome the shackles her life had forced upon her. Glinda, who wanted to change her _name_ , she hated her old self so much. It would be easy for her to slip back into her popularity and never change anything about herself, but she didn’t want that. She refused to do so. Elphaba met the blonde’s bright blue eyes, and her promise to Dr. Dillamond ran through her head once more.

She wondered if, during those last few moments, the old Goat had been talking specifically about Glinda.

“I know,” Elphaba said finally, her brown eyes drilling into Glinda’s. A sad smile returned to her face as she added, “I don’t hate you, either.”

“Are we friends, Elphaba? Can you forgive me for the horrible things I’ve said and let be said about you? Can you forgive me for everything I’ve done?”

“Only if you can forgive me in return, Glinda.”

“Of course I can.”

“Then yes. I suppose we’re…”

“Friends?” Glinda reached for Elphaba’s hand as the green girl looked away.

“I…I’ve never had a friend.”

Glinda wrapped her arms around her roommate slowly, letting the green girl adjust to the contact. It was only when Elphaba’s shoulders relaxed and she returned the embrace that the blonde found the words she was looking for.

“Neither have I, Elphie. Not really.”


	20. Chapter 20

Elphaba jerked back, leaning away from her roommate.

“What’s wrong?” Glinda asked, startled by the movement. The green girl just shook her head. She stood and retreated to her own bed, where she curled up into a tight tangle of gangly limbs. Glinda didn’t know how long she and her roommate had sat in that embrace. All she knew was that the sudden loss of contact left her feeling quite alone. “Elphie?”

Her roommate rested her chin on her arms. “I just can’t believe he’s actually gone.”

“You act as if he’s dead.”

“Maybe he isn’t yet, but…”

“Elphie! You can’t think like that!”

She lowered her head, pressing her forehead against her knee. “Think about it. He was forced to leave his home with almost nothing. He has no job, nor can he get one with more and more bans taking place. The Animals have been cast down to the lowest parts of society. He was probably one of the only of his kind to still be working.”

“But there are still Animals at the school,” Glinda protested. “That Gorilla in the café, for example.”

“Yes,” Elphaba said. “Low-paying jobs. If he can find work, that’s what he’ll be doing. He’s been one of the greatest professors in Oz for years, and now he’s just…gone.”

“You really cared about him, didn’t you?” Glinda asked softly. “I mean, of course you did. We all knew that. But…”

Elphaba shifted a little so she could see her roommate. “Yeah,” she breathed after a pause. “Yeah, I really did.”

“Tell me about him, Elphie.”

She raised an eyebrow. “You knew him as long as I did.”

“But not as well.”

The green girl sighed, but the words came surprisingly easy. “What can I say? I admired him. I’ve never met anyone as intelligent as him. He could see beyond his own experiences to what the world was really like. He knew the Animals were going to lose their rights even before the bans started, and certainly long before they affected him personally. But it was more than his intelligence. He could have had so much more, you know? Dr. Dillamond is known to this day among nearly all of Oz’s greater minds. He could have worked for the Wizard himself, but instead he chose to teach. He told me the reason once. He said that his knowledge would be useless if it just died with him. That was his true passion: teaching those who came after him.”

“Is that why he was so patient?” Glinda wondered out loud. “I mean, look at the way the rest of us treated him. Most of the class refused to learn simply because he was a Goat. And we can’t have been the only difficult class he had. Yet he never gave up on us. He tried to teach us, anyway.”

Elphaba nodded, gazing into space. “He was used to being an outcast. He would never let that stop him from doing what he needed to. Who cares if people made fun of him? As long as he could teach them something, then he was doing his job. That’s all he wanted. You guys would make fun of me for spending my lunches with him, but honestly, that was the highlight of my day. Maybe it was because I’m an outcast, too—although I doubt that’s the only reason—but he always understood me. He knew what to say, how to motivate me to get back on my feet again. Never once did he say a word against another student, not even when I was ranting and saying all sorts of vicious things. I suppose that’s the real reason I admired him so much. The world threw hell at him, but he never used it as an excuse. He only ever did what was right, so calmly, so at peace with himself…”

She shook her head and looked at the blonde again. “Do you know why I care so much about the Animals, Glinda? It’s because of him, and because of others like him. I believe humans—well, most of us, anyway—have both good and evil inside of them. That’s why even a decent person can fall into selfishness and greed. Even the most revered leaders start wars, both by battles and by politics, and the rest of us don’t seem to care enough to change anything. But the Animals are different. I’m not saying they’re all saints, but they’re better than people. They’re not blinded by a lust for power. They certainly don’t look down on others the way humans do. They simply live the lives given to them, doing honest work and just trying to make the world around them a better place. Do you understand what I mean?”

Glinda stared at her roommate, but she wasn’t exactly looking at her. All she could see was the Badger children playing innocently in their yard. Or Dr. Dillamond, answering Milla’s questions when she couldn’t understand the simplest concepts, calmly taking Pfannee’s thinly disguised insults, struggling to pronounce her name right…

Glinda nodded slowly. “The Animals have done nothing but live, and yet we see fit to beat them down. And it’s all just because they’re…different.” At the last word, Glinda’s eyes caught Elphaba’s. This, she thought, was why the green girl was so passionate about Animal rights: because what was happening was sickeningly unfair, because no one else even seemed to notice, and because the same thing might very well happen to her.

Elphaba didn’t respond, but her dark eyes drilled into Galinda’s, marveling at the sincerity she saw in the blue.

“And Morrible is behind it all.”

The green girl tensed. “What makes you say that?”

“I heard you and Dr. Dillamond saying her name. It’s her, isn’t it? She’s the reason Dr. Dillamond had to leave.”

“We don’t know that for sure.”

“Well, she certainly didn’t do anything to stop it!” Glinda jumped up from her bed and began pacing across the room, only vaguely aware of how much she must look like Elphaba in that moment. “Oz knows she’s in a high enough position to decide who does and doesn’t teach in her school. And if bans are being placed left and right, it wouldn’t be that hard to slip in a few suggestions, would it? Doesn’t Morrible have a connection with the Wizard? Maybe they—”

“Glinda, stop.” The blonde stood still at her roommate’s sharp tone. “Morrible has nothing to do with this.”

“But…” Glinda tilted her head slightly, completely bewildered. She had heard them saying Morrible’s name earlier. In Dr. Dillamond’s room, Elphaba looked like she was ready to murder their Madame Head. What had changed? Unless… “You’re lying to me.” She couldn’t keep the pain out her voice.

The green girl flinched. “Fine. Morrible’s involved. I don’t know what she did, or why, but I know she’s involved. Happy?”

“Not particularly. What are we going to do?”

Elphaba stood up, crossing her arms over her chest. “ _We_ will do nothing.”

“What? You don’t want my help?”

“There’s nothing to help with. Even if this is all Morrible’s fault, what are we supposed to do? Get rid of her? She owns the university. There’s nothing we can do.”

Glinda’s shoulders sagged slightly as she nodded. Of course Elphaba was right—she was always right. Something bothered the blonde, however, even as Elphaba pulled out a book and settled into her bed with it.

But whatever it was, she wasn’t going to figure it out anytime soon. Her roommate had already sunk into the comforts of her literature.

Glinda shook her head and went to her wardrobe. She shifted through a few outfits before pulling out one of her simpler dresses. The gown was pale pink with a wide, cream-colored belt. She smoothed it out on her bed, but made no move to get dressed. After a few moments of just standing there, she sank onto the bed, shoving the dress away from her.

“Did I just witness you tossing aside an outfit? And a pink dress, no less. My, my, Glinda. You’re simply full of surprises this morning.”

“I see your sarcasm is back,” Glinda muttered, but she couldn’t help the tiny smile that played across her lips. “Besides, I like this sweater. It’s cozy.” She hugged the comforting fabric to herself.

“Comfort over fashion. I think you’ve been spending too much time around me lately.”

“Or maybe not enough,” Glinda responded quietly. She didn’t need to look to know that Elphaba was staring at her. But after a moment, the green girl just returned to her book. Glinda turned her head, her brow furrowing. Her roommate had a reaction to everything. For her not to respond was…

Then she realized what was wrong, why something was still bothering her about the entire Morrible situation. _There’s nothing we can do,_ Elphaba had said. But Elphaba never said that. There was always something she could do, even when she was facing an entire school alone. The green girl wasn’t about to give up anytime soon, no matter what she said.

Glinda was a little hurt and extremely confused by her roommate’s lie. She was about to press her for answers, but something held her back. Somehow she knew that if she pushed the subject now, she would never figure it out. So she settled quietly into her pillows, letting her mind race over everything that had happened in the last couple of days. It was a strange feeling, having her thoughts wander freely over things that weren’t superficial. Oddly…exhilarating.

She closed her eyes, feeling lighter and lighter as her mind drifted, as if thinking for herself, unashamed and unrestrained, had lifted a burden she didn’t even know was there. She felt dizzy in the most wonderful way, and—even though it was mid-morning and classes were still going on—it wasn’t long before she fell into a blissful sleep.

 

***

 

Elphaba watched over the top of the book she wasn’t reading. Glinda’s breathing had deepened. The blonde wasn’t one to look stressed, but now she was more relaxed than Elphaba had ever seen her. The green girl smiled and set her book down. Quietly, she went over to her roommate and pulled the blanket around her sleeping frame.

She backed away until she hit her bed, then half-fell, half-sat down. Now that she had time to think about everything that had happened, it was overwhelming. All of a sudden, the entire world had changed. Her roommate changed her name and was now her friend. Her favorite teacher was gone. Morrible was behind it, and so was, maybe, the Wizard. The green girl looked sideways at Glinda. _Doesn’t Morrible have a connection with the Wizard?_

Elphaba shook her head quickly. It didn’t matter who caused all of this. She would do everything in her power to help the Animals and her teacher, whether that meant facing her classmates or the Gale Force or the Wizard himself.

If only she knew where to start.

She looked over at the bag on the floor, biting her lip. The book Dr. Dillamond had given her was in there, but she wasn’t sure she wanted to look through it just yet. She didn’t know what it contained, but no matter what, opening it would mean he was really gone.

But she didn’t just want to sit there and do nothing, either, so she crept over to the bag and pulled out the old thing. With one quick glance to make sure Glinda was still asleep, she sank back onto her bed and flipped it open.

It was a journal. The pages were brimming with scrawled dates and equations. Lines were ended with question marks, then crossed out furiously, then rewritten above in cramped letters. The handwriting was messy and in many parts frantic.

Elphaba’s eyes widened as she skimmed through the pages. A few words stuck out among the others, repeated on nearly every other page— _Animals, bans, evolution, equal consciousness._ And then, later on, notes that sent a shiver crawling up the green girl’s spine: _the Wizard, hiding something, Animals disappearing, not alone, this isn’t just about the Animals._

She closed her eyes and set the book down, taking deep breaths. When she looked down at the journal again, she caught sight of one phrase, one question written in the top margins of a page, underlined and circled and finished with a dark, bold question mark:

_How can I prove it?_

Across the room, Glinda stirred. Elphaba quickly shut the journal and shoved it under her pillow, but it was a false alarm. The blonde simply rolled over with a content sigh.

When all was quiet again, she slowly pulled the journal back out and clutched it to her chest. She could clearly see the glint in Dr. Dillamond’s eye as she tucked the journal out of sight, the way he had shaken his head, as if they were sharing a secret that none of Oz knew.

And now they were. She held in her fingers the research of one of the greatest minds in Oz, the closest thing they had to connecting humans and Animals and, with any luck, bringing equality back to Oz. And he had chosen _her_ to take care of his research, to carry on where he had been forced to leave off.

Again, Elphaba glanced sideways at her roommate. This project had gotten Dillamond kicked out of the school, and that was only just the beginning. There was no doubt in her mind that Morrible was already snooping around the Goat’s office, trying to find any evidence he’d left behind. Simply possessing this journal was putting her in danger, let alone delving in and adding on to the research. It was a risk Elphaba was willing to take, but she refused to put anyone else in harm’s way. Glinda couldn’t know. Not now, not ever.

_That’ll be easy, though,_ the green girl assured herself. _I’ve already lied to her about it. She won’t bring it up again._

 

***

 

But it was becoming more and more common for Elphaba to misjudge her roommate, and this was no exception. The blonde was, after all, more intelligent than even she gave herself credit for. That was why, when she woke up again, she stayed still and peered at her roommate from beneath the covers. She knew she didn’t have a right to know what was in that journal, but she also knew that, whatever made Elphaba clutch the book like a lifeline, she couldn’t let the green girl take on alone.


	21. Chapter 21

Glinda refused to go back to the way things were. She was tired of getting to know Elphie behind their closed door only to shun her the next day. It wasn’t fair to the green girl, and honestly, she was sick of the whiplash.

But she stuck by what she had said to herself a couple days ago. She wanted both. She wanted to still be friends with Pfannee and Milla and Shenshen. She wanted to be with Fiyero. Maybe she could show them all that the green girl wasn’t so bad. Maybe they could reach a truce. Maybe they could all…

“Galinda!”

The blonde looked across the courtyard, trying not to flinch at the name. Shenshen and Milla were waving her over. Next to them, Pfannee was standing with her arms crossed over her chest, obviously fighting a scowl.

“Hello ladies,” the blonde said, walking up to them.

“What happened to you yesterday?” Shenshen asked. “We couldn’t find you after the old Goat’s class.”

Glinda shifted her weight. “Well, we went—”

“We?” Pfannee demanded, her eyes narrowing.

“E-Elphaba and I.” Oz, why was she trembling all of a sudden? “You guys saw how she reacted. So I-I took her back to our room a-and tried to calm her down.”

“You went with the green bean _willingly?_ ” Milla gasped.

She struggled to find the right words. “Y-yeah. I did. Look, isn’t it time we let all that go?”

“What’s gotten into you, Galinda?” Shenshen’s eyes were full of concern.

_Glinda_ , she mentally corrected them, but she tried to put on her most dazzling smile. “Oh come on, girls. We were horrible, she was horrible, can’t we all just move on?”

Pfannee made a noise of disgust. “Are you saying you want to be… _friends_ with her?”

“I’m saying I _am_ friends with her.”

“You’re only trying to make her feel better,” Shenshen said quickly, waving a dismissive hand. “You just feel sorry for her because of the whole Dr. Dillamond thing.”

Before Glinda could argue, Milla leaned forward excitedly. “What do you think about all that?” she asked in a loud whisper. “Why do you think they sent the old Goat away?”

“Who knows?” Pfannee said. “But it’s about time. Really, what was Morrible thinking? Keeping an Animal at the school for that long.”

“He was a good teacher,” Glinda said heatedly. She smoothed out her dress, trying to steady her hands. “One of the best minds in Oz.”

Milla made a gagging noise while Shenshen looked quite shocked. Pfannee, however, simply raised an eyebrow. “You’re starting to sound like the vegetable.”

“She’s not—” Glinda cut off and took a shaky breath.

“Why are you defending her?” Pfannee demanded. “Honestly, Galinda, it’s like she’s bewitched you or something.”

“Don’t be absurd. And it’s _Glinda_.”

“What?” Shenshen asked.

“It’s Glinda, not Galinda.”

“ _Why?_ ” Milla asked, downright horrified.

“Because…because…” Glinda looked around at her friends, all of whom were staring at her, judging her, and suddenly it was all too much. “Because I don’t want to be Galinda anymore.” The words came out as a mumbled excuse, and she was sure the others didn’t hear, but she found herself unable to say anything more.

She pushed past the girls, not wanting to see the looks they were giving her or listen to their jeering insults. She could feel her heart pounding and her throat starting to ache. When she was sure she was out of sight, she fell against a building, leaning heavily on the brick, and tried to catch her breath. She wanted Elphie, although she wasn’t entirely sure why. Something about the green girl was steadying, and all she wanted right now was to stop shaking.

What was with this adrenaline? Why did talking to her friends cause her to panic like this? Everything she had just said was only a repeat of what she had told Elphaba. Yet, even though she barely knew her roommate, it was easier to confess these things to her.

She couldn’t be vulnerable around Pfannee or the others. They would hold it against her, using that weakness and manipulating her with it. But something about Elphaba made that vulnerability feel less like a weakness, and more like a strength.

Unfortunately, she didn’t see Elphaba until later that day, at dinner.

The green girl sat alone in her usual corner of the café, swirling her glass and listening to the liquid whirl inside.

“Elphaba?”

Boq was standing in front of her, looking rather timidly down at his feet. “I, uh…I wanted to…” He cleared his throat, trying to avoid the sharp look she was giving him. “I know if I offer you sympathy, you’re likely to never talk to me again. So I just wanted to say that…I’m going to miss Dr. Dillamond as well.”

Her face softened a little. “Thank you, Boq,” she said quietly.

“Did he say why?” the Munchkin asked. At Elphaba’s questioning look, he went on. “I know you stayed after class with him. Did he tell you why he had to leave?”

Elphaba had always considered herself to have a pretty good poker face. At the very least, she was good at talking her way out of things and avoiding truths. But she found, as her eyes met Boq’s, that it was a struggle to blatantly lie to him.

“…No. I-I asked, but he wouldn’t really say.”

He looked at her, tilting his head slightly and narrowing his eyes. But before he got the chance to call her out, another voice cut in.

“Elphie!”

Both Munchkinlanders turned as Glinda approached the table, holding a tray of food. The blonde blushed a little as she realized she had just interrupted something. “M-may I sit with you?”

For a split second, Elphaba was bewildered. But then she shook her head a little and gestured to the seat across from her. “O-of course.”

Boq looked just as confused as she felt. He raised his eyebrows at Elphaba, trying to ignore the blush that was creeping up the back of his neck. “S-since when—” he stammered weakly. But then he just shook his head. “You know what? I’ll talk to you later Elphaba.” He gave her a look that clearly said the conversation wasn’t over, then turned to Glinda. “And, uh…I, um…it was nice seeing you Miss Galinda.” The Munchkin blushed even deeper and hurried out of the café. Elphaba resisted the urge to roll her eyes.

Across the table, Glinda huffed and pouted at her bowl of soup. When the green girl raised an eyebrow at her, she just shrugged and stirred the food around. “Galinda,” the blonde stated quietly. “That’s not my name anymore.”

“To be fair, no one else knows that yet.”

Instead of responding, Glinda continued to mess with her dinner. Elphaba stared at her, still shocked—and, if she was being honest, a little uneasy—that the blonde was sitting across from her, claiming to be her friend. She had never been good at friends—neither at having one nor at being one. Wasn’t her relationship with Boq proof of that?

“You know, it’s better if you actually eat it,” Elphaba told her roommate.

Glinda put her spoon down and sighed. “Elphie, you terrible green thing,” she mumbled. The green girl tried not to wince, but Glinda seemed not to notice. Her brooding was starting to make Elphaba nervous.

“I don’t understand. You were perfectly happy when you first sat down. What happened?”

But the blonde shook her head. “You know what? You’re right. Forget it. Let’s just enjoy our dinner.”

Now Elphaba was really concerned. She narrowed her eyes at her roommate. “Now hold on. Something’s wrong here. What’s going on?”

“It’s nothing, Elphie. It’s just…” Glinda let out a breath. “I just ran into Pfannee and the other earlier, that’s all.”

The green girl tilted her head to the side. “They put you in this mood? But they couldn’t possibly have treated you badly, could they?” That group practically worshipped Glinda. The only reason they wouldn’t was if… The pieces suddenly clicked together. “You…Glinda, did you tell them we…?”

The blonde wouldn’t meet her eyes. “They asked where I’d gone yesterday, and I told them we spent the day in the room. And then they—oh, Elphie, the way they talk about you! They even said you’d _bewitched_ me and forced me to get along with you. It was simply awful and—why are you smiling?”

Elphaba pursed her lips, but her eyes still danced. “Really? They think I bewitched you? One tiny outburst of magic and they think I have the power to _bewitch_ people?”

“This isn’t funny, Elphaba!” The blonde looked close to tears, but she found that she couldn’t stop the smile tugging at her own lips.

Elphaba saw her roommate start to relax again and let out her own breath of relief. Inside, she was reeling with the idea of Glinda defending her to Pfannee. As the blonde finally dug into her food, Elphaba continued to watch her with something close to wonder.

_You really have changed,_ she said to herself. Then she wondered why the thought made the back of her neck heat up.


	22. Chapter 22

Winter came suddenly to Shiz. Night started to fall in the late afternoon, and a chilling breeze kept up steadily around campus. Before anyone really noticed, the trees had shed their leaves, and the only green that could be found was on the few pine or holly trees that were placed sporadically around the lake.

The cold that settled in never seemed to bother Elphaba, although she was wary of the inevitable first snowfall. Glinda secretly worried about her roommate, who still had nothing but a single, thin blanket on her bed, but she was far too nervous to raise the issue.

Both of them were starting to, slowly, adjust to being friends. Glinda started correcting people with a gentle “It’s Glinda,” every time they greeted her incorrectly. She did her best to avoid Pfannee and the others for a couple of days, and when she did see them she would usually excuse herself after a few minutes. Some days were easier than others, and she could sit with her old friends for an entire lunch, chatting and laughing just like they used to. But there were also days when Pfannee’s eyes glittered and the girls made endless snide comments about Elphaba. Those were the days when Glinda would mumble something about being cold or leaving something in a classroom. And although it made her feel sick inside, after that first conversation, she was too afraid to stand up to the girls.

At least, that’s what she had thought until the day she was walking to history with Elphaba.

“So it’s true,” a voice called from nearby. Elphaba would have kept walking, but the little blonde next to her had stopped to look. Rolling her eyes, she turned toward Pfannee, raising an eyebrow.

Pfannee looked gleefully at Milla and Shenshen. “I thought it was a joke, this whole being friends with the vegetable thing! I thought Galinda was kidding!”

Glinda seemed rooted to the spot. She glanced, horrified, between Pfannee and Elphaba, silently willing the situation to go away.

“ _I_ still think it’s a charity thing,” Milla said, an air of self-importance to her voice. “I suppose someone has to feel pity for such a disgusting creature.”

Shenshen looked wide-eyed at Glinda. “When are you going to drop this whole thing, Galinda? Is that _thing_ really worth it?”

Elphaba had had enough. She grabbed Glinda’s elbow and was about to lead her away, but the blonde pulled out of her grip. She crossed her arms over her chest and glared at the three other girls.

“How dare you?!” she demanded. “I’ve _told_ you, Elphaba’s my friend, and if you can’t bring yourselves to be nice to her, the least you can do is give her some respect when she’s around! Come on, Elphie.” Without even waiting for a reaction, she grabbed the green girl’s hand and marched off toward the history building.

Elphaba was speechless. She gaped at the blonde the entire way to class, and it wasn’t until they had sat down together at a back table that she could begin to form words.

“I…you…Glinda, that—”

Glinda giggled. “Gosh, Elphie. I don’t think I’ve ever seen you speechless before.”

But her humor didn’t last, for at that moment the rest of the class began walking in. They cast shocked looks back at the two girls, and it wasn’t long before everyone was whispering to each other. Elphaba ignored them all and began pulling out books. After a moment, Glinda shook her head and followed suit.

Pfannee, Milla, and Shenshen walked in and took their usual table. Shenshen glanced at the back of the room.

“Aren’t you going to sit with us, Galinda?”

“It’s Glinda,” the blonde said. Elphaba looked sideways at her.

“You don’t have to…” she mumbled, not really sure what she wanted to say.

“Hush, Elphie.”

“So, Elphaba,” Pfannee called, turning around in her chair to face them. “What do you think of Professor Nikidik?”

The green girl stiffened at the mention of their new history teacher. “I think he’s arrogant and cruel, and likes to hear the sound of his own voice.”

“Well _I_ like him,” Pfannee began. “He’s far better than that old Goat.”

“It makes sense that you’d like him, seeing as you two have so much in common.”

Someone snorted nearby. Glinda turned to see Boq covering his mouth and looking fixedly at his desk. Meanwhile, Pfannee’s face was burning, but before she could retort their teacher walked into the room.

“Good morning, class.”

Elphaba pulled out a pen and began doodling absentmindedly in the margins of her notebook. There was nothing Nikidik had to say that she was interested in. Her mind began to roam as the lecture went on, and she couldn’t help but think yet again of the journal that was tucked into her bag at this very moment.

She had taken to delving into Dillamond’s notes every chance she got. More than once, she had stayed too late looking through it at the library and was forced to sneak out in order to get back to her room. The more she read of the Goat’s work, the more amazed she became. He wasn’t at a definite answer yet—not anywhere near it—but he was closer than anyone had ever gotten before.

It fascinated her, and she couldn’t stay away from the journal for long. In fact, as soon as they got out of history, she mumbled a brief goodbye to Glinda and hurried off to Crage Hall. She had barely stepped through the door to their room when she pulled the journal out of her bag. Elphaba moved over to her desk and sat down, her nose already buried between the pages.

There was so much to learn from Dr. Dillamond’s research, and she was only just starting to completely understand everything he was trying to do. And the further she read, the more disturbing things were. She had known that the Animals of Oz were suffering, but not to the extent that Dillamond had described in his notes. And then, at the head of everything, was the Wizard.

The leader of Oz was iconic: adored and revered throughout the entire country. Elphaba, however, had always felt uneasy at the mention of the Wizard. People praised his magic skills, yet he couldn’t do anything for the poor Munchkin farmers or the Quadlings being sold into slavery? He was wise and benevolent, yet the Animals under his rule were suffering, losing their rights, being pushed aside into nonexistence.

And now here he was, scribbled in the margins of Dillamond’s notebook. _No wonder they sent the Gale Force to escort him out of here,_ Elphaba thought. She wondered just how much the Wizard knew of the Goat’s research.

The green girl was so deep into the journal that she didn’t hear the footsteps outside her door, or the turning of a key in the lock.

Glinda opened the door. “There you are!” she said when she saw her roommate. Elphaba jumped a little and slammed the journal shut. “You left class awfully—wait, what was that?”

Elphaba had shoved Dr. Dillamond’s notes into her book bag and strapped it shut. “N-nothing. Just some homework.”

The blonde tilted her head. “Well, then, why are you trying to hide your homework from me?” Were Elphie’s cheeks a shade darker than usual?

“I’m not,” the green girl said shortly. “I was…I was just leaving, actually.”

“Leaving?”

Elphaba made a noise of affirmation and slung her bag over her shoulder. “To the library. I need a book.”

“Yeah, ‘cause you have so few of those.”

The green girl paused and looked back at her. “Was that sarcasm, Glinda? There may be hope for you yet.”

“Hey, I’m sarcastic! This is just the first time I’ve used it nicely.”

Elphaba flashed a quick grin at her. “Touché, blondie.” She opened the door and slipped out of the room.

She really had planned to go to the library—and she probably would have stayed there until late into the night—but as usual, things didn’t exactly go the way she wanted them to.

“Bewitched?” a voice said. “You really think the green bean has that kind of power?”

“Well, why else would a perfectly good girl like Galinda start hanging out with her?”

Elphaba paused, listening. She had taken a path that led away from most of Shiz’s crowds, but apparently she couldn’t avoid everyone. It sounded like there were four or five students just around the corner from her. Normally, she would have just kept walking and not have given it a second thought, but the way they were saying her roommate’s name caused her to stop.

“ _I_ don’t think the vegetable could do something like that. Sure, she’s hideous, but she’s not powerful.”

“So why is Galinda being nice to her all of a sudden?”

“Who knows? Maybe it’s for attention. Adopt a freak, become a saint.”

“Maybe it’s out of pity,” someone mused. “Or fear.”

Someone started giggling. “Maybe that Pfannee girl kicked her out of the group and she had no one else to hang out with.” The group laughed.

“Oh, oh! Maybe she’ll start dating that Munchkin boy soon. What’s his name—Biq? He and the green girl seem like friends.”

Elphaba grit her teeth. A week ago, the entire school practically worshipped Glinda. How could they turn against her so fast? She gripped the strap of her bag and walked away, the group’s laughter still in her ears. Those people had no right to talk about Glinda—Oz, they couldn’t even use the right name!

She didn’t know why it bothered her so much, but it did. Maybe she was used to the gossip and insults, but that didn’t mean Glinda deserved to deal with all of it too. Elphaba could just picture the blonde’s face falling as she listened to people talking about her, her cheeks reddening, lip beginning to tremble, sapphire eyes widening and turning a few shades darker as she fought back tears…

The green girl shook her head, shoving the mental image away. She looked over her shoulder, although she knew the group was well out of sight by now. No, Glinda didn’t deserve any of this. _Especially not for someone like me_ , she thought.

And right then and there, she decided that she would do everything she could to keep her roommate safe from the torment Shiz had to offer.

 

***

 

Glinda took a deep breath, bracing herself. She was hovering just outside the café, biding her time before she had to go in. No doubt Fiyero was already waiting for her at a table. Her stomach jumped nervously at the thought, although not for the reasons one would expect. Instead of being delighted with Fiyero for asking her out to dinner, she was terrified.

Galinda would have been delighted. She would have spent all day trying on dresses and perfecting her makeup. She would have eased her nerves by making fun of Elphaba and gossiping with Pfannee and the others. She would have skipped joyfully into the café in an attempt to grab as much attention as she possibly could.

But Glinda was doing none of that. She was trembling from head to toe in her simple blouse and skirt, wearing only the amount of makeup she had felt like doing that day. Taking another breath, she pushed open the door and slipped inside, praying that no one noticed her.

Just as she had guessed, the Winkie prince was sitting at a small table near the back. He was looking down at the glass of water in front of him, his eyebrows furrowed into a slight frown. The expression seemed odd on his face, contrasting greatly with his usual carefree attitude.

He saw Glinda approaching and leapt to his feet. “Galinda,” he said with a smile, pulling out the chair opposite him and offered it to her.

“Thank you, Fiyero,” she smiled back, taking the seat. “But it’s just Glinda. I’ve told you that.”

His smile faltered. “R-right. Actually, Ga…Glinda.” He cleared his throat. “I was kind of wondering if we could talk about that.”

“That’s why you asked me out?” she said softly. “You want to talk?”

He rubbed the back of his neck and avoided her eyes. “I think we need to, yeah.”

She tried for another smile, although her insides were still shaking with dread. “Okay. Go for it.”

“It’s just…lately you…and Pfannee keeps saying…and that green freak—”

“Don’t call her that,” Glinda said firmly, cutting him off. “Look, I think we need to talk, too. But if you’re going to insult Elphaba, then I’m leaving.”

“That’s just it, Galinda! Why are you so defensive of her all of a sudden? A week ago you were calling her a vegetable and saying these horrible things about her with the rest of us.” Glinda visibly flinched, but he didn’t notice and just kept talking. “And she really is horrible! She—”

“Have you ever actually talked to her?” Glinda asked, crossing her arms over her chest.

Fiyero scowled. “Yeah. I introduced myself to her, and she was a terror! All I wanted was to ask her about you, but she couldn’t even hold a minute of decent conversation. It’s like she was raised by wolves, she’s so vicious. There’s that nasty look in her eyes, and that—that _cackle_ she has, I swear…”

Fiyero kept talking, but Glinda was still thinking about the first part. _All I wanted was to ask her about you._ She closed her eyes and sighed to herself. A week ago, her heart would have fluttered at that. But now it didn’t quite seem to matter.

“…and I just don’t understand how she’s so bitter. I mean, aren’t I the most popular guy on campus? Any girl would be delighted to talk to me, yet she looks at me as if I’m some _disease_.”

Glinda opened her eyes and stared at him. “Is that what really upset you? She wasn’t charmed enough by you?”

The Vinkan stopped, his mouth hanging slightly open as he thought of an answer. “Well, I…I mean, it’s nothing to be jealous of. No one could ever be attracted to something like _that_. It’s just weird that she’s not mooning over me or anyone else.” He leaned in, suddenly excited. “What do you think her deal is, anyway? You know, Avaric was saying the other day that—”

“I don’t care what Avaric was saying,” the blonde said heatedly. “He’s disgusting. And I’m not going to gossip about Elphie, even if I knew—”

“ _Elphie?_ ” the prince snorted. “You gave that thing a _nickname_?”

“She’s not a thing, she’s my friend!” Glinda pinched the bridge of her nose in an attempt to calm down, but she wasn’t exactly angry. She was just…sad.

Fiyero was staring at her, dumbfounded. _It seems the handsome prince has run out of clever things to say,_ she thought to herself, but it almost sounded like Elphaba’s voice in her head. For a moment, she just looked at Fiyero, taking him in. Here, sitting in front of her, was everything she had ever thought she wanted: a charming, good-looking, rich boyfriend who would dance carelessly through life with her. But the more she looked at him, the less appealing it all seemed. He was shallow, self-absorbed, narrow-minded, ignorant. None of that was exactly his fault, and none of it was intended to be harmful. He was just another fool born out of popularity, proving his worth by the most worthless means.

He was everything she was trying to get away from.

“Fiyero, I…I’m sorry.” She folded her hands in her lap and looked down at them. “I don’t think this is going to work out.”

“You don’t think…what is going to work out,” he deadpanned.

“You…me…whatever this is.”

“Are you…breaking up with me?”

Glinda fought back a smirk. _How cliché,_ she thought, once again hearing Elphie in her head. “I just…I think we want different things,” she said gently. “It’s like you all keep saying. I have changed, and I’m still changing. Isn’t that what college is about?”

He raised an eyebrow at her. “I thought you came to college to find a husband.”

She bit her lip. “Maybe I did, but that’s not what I want anymore.”

Fiyero scoffed. “Oh, and what do you want? To become a sorceress? You know, that’s another thing they’ve been saying about you. That you’re only befriending the green bean so that she can teach you magic. Is that it?”

“What? No!”

“Okay, then what? Because you and I both know you don’t really care about your classes. And you’ll never find a better guy than me, so the marriage thing is out. So what is it? What do you want here?”

Glinda could feel the blood rushing to her cheeks. “There’s no need to get angry at me. And who says I couldn’t find a better guy?”

“A couple weeks ago you told Pfannee we were just _perfect_ together, and that we simply _deserved_ each other.” His voice rose in pitch as he mimicked her.

Now the blonde was blushing furiously. She made a mental note to slap Pfannee the next time she saw her. But for right now, she simply stood up from the table. “I would have us still be friends, Master Fiyero, but not with the way you’re treating me.” She turned to walk out, but he caught her elbow, stopping her.

Glinda kept her eyes down, refusing to meet his gaze. She wouldn’t cry over him. Not here, not to Elphie, never. Her tiny hand covered his for a small instant, and then she pushed his fingers away and left.

Fiyero stared after her, already regretting everything he had said. He buried his head in his hands. “You idiot,” he muttered, loud enough for no one but him to hear.


	23. Chapter 23

“You know what we haven’t done in a while?” Shenshen said. “Shopping.”

Milla lit up. “Oh, we haven’t been to town in forever!”

Pfannee glanced sideways at Glinda. “We should go this weekend! That is, if Miss Galinda can make time for us.”

The blonde ignored the jab and smiled. “That sounds wonderful, actually. What about this Saturday?”

The others nodded. The girls were sitting on a bench in front of Crage Hall. It was chilly out, but the sun was shining and they were huddled together enough to stay warm. Glinda was enjoying one of the rare afternoons of civility with her old friends. A voice nagged at the back of her mind, telling her that this moment of truce couldn’t possibly last, but she pushed it to the side, just as she had for the past week or so. Who cared what would happen later? Right now, everything was peaceful and easy.

“So Pfannee,” Milla said. “Tell us about your lunch with Avaric the other day.”

“Yes, let’s hear all about it!” Shenshen squealed.

Even Glinda smiled. “Yeah, you were practically glowing in class that afternoon,” she said. “What happened?”

Pfannee jumped into the story, her eyes dancing gleefully as she soaked in their attention. Glinda only half paid attention to her words, but she nodded and giggled whenever the situation called for it. Maybe she was playing a part, but it was a part she knew well. And if it helped the group get along, then she didn’t really mind. But then something happened that made her stop paying attention completely. Or, more accurately, some _one_ happened.

_Don’t let her come this way,_ Glinda begged silently. _Don’t let them notice her._

“Hey.” Milla nudged Pfannee. “Look.” Glinda’s heart sank. Too late.

Elphaba was walking up the path toward Crage Hall, her nose buried in a book as usual. Glinda’s fists clenched and she pressed them into her thighs.

Pfannee’s face lit up. “Oh, I’ve been waiting for this,” she muttered to them before calling out to the green girl. “Why Miss Elphaba! What are you doing in the cold without a coat on?”

Elphaba’s brow furrowed, almost imperceptibly, into her book. “I don’t see how that matters to you,” she replied without looking up.

The rich girl made a noise of disapproval. “I’m simply looking out for your well-being, Miss Elphaba. It’s not wise to leave your coat inside on a day like today.”

Milla covered her mouth with her hand and whispered loudly to Pfannee. “Maybe she doesn’t have a coat. Maybe she can’t afford one.”

“Is that it?” Shenshen asked. “The green bean is too poor to afford a coat?” Elphaba’s cheeks darkened and she shoved the book into her bag, avoiding their eyes.

“Is that why you were starving yourself, too?” Pfannee asked, her voice sickeningly sweet. “Could you not afford food?”

“How did you—” the green girl cut herself off. Her eyes fell, just briefly, on Glinda. Then she looked away and headed for the doors to the dorm.

“Oh yeah,” Pfannee went on, having noticed the look. “Galinda used to give us all that dirt on you. It’s a shame she’s claiming to be your friend now. I kind of miss hearing all the good stuff. By the way, how’s your sister doing?”

“Leave her alone,” Glinda said. Pfannee rolled her eyes.

“You just have to be the martyr, don’t you Galinda?”

“ _Glinda,_ ” the blonde nearly hissed. She stood up. “And if you can’t be decent, I’m leaving.”

“Goodbye then,” Pfannee replied with a glare. “Oh, and while you’re still pitying the vegetable, maybe you should buy her a coat. Although I can’t imagine anything looking good with that skin.”

Elphaba was already at the doors, completely ignoring her. Glinda followed after her, but not before looking back over her shoulder. “Anything would look better than _that_ ,” she said, nodding at Pfannee’s current outfit. “Didn’t anyone teach you not to clash colors?” As she hurried inside, she swore she heard a small giggle from Shenshen.

Glinda found her roommate at her desk, unloading her books from the day. “I’m sorry, Elphie,” she said.

“Please,” the green girl said, rolling her eyes. “I’m used to it.”

The blonde shuffled over to her side of the room. “Yeah, well, I’m sorry for that, too.”

“Are you?” Elphaba said under her breath.

“What?”

“Nothing,” the taller girl said. She grabbed a book and moved to her bed.

Glinda looked at her curiously. “Why do you read so much, Elphie?”

Dark green lips tightened. “Reading is just as much a part of me as gossiping is a part of you.”

“Hey, I resent that!” The blonde was trying to be lighthearted, but something in Elphaba’s voice made her uneasy.

“Is that not what you were just doing?” she asked, raising an eyebrow at her. “You were sitting out there with Pfannee and them.”

“We can do more than just gossip,” Glinda replied coolly.

“Maybe you can, but you don’t.”

“What would you know about what we do?” she demanded.

Elphaba put her book down. “Fine. If you weren’t talking bad about someone, then what _were_ you talking about?”

“Why are you so curious?”

“Why are you avoiding the question?”

“We made plans for this Saturday, to go shopping.” Glinda crossed her arms over her chest, a sense of victory in her smirk. “Happy?”

Elphaba’s eyes darkened slightly. “Not particularly.”

The blonde scowled. “Of course. You’re never happy, are you?”

“How can you stand them?” Elphaba demanded suddenly. “I don’t get it. You talk about how much you want to change, and how you don’t want to be Galinda anymore, and then you go right back to that crowd of awful girls. And it’s not as if they’re even treating you nicely! Why put yourself through that?”

Glinda froze, her arms fell a little, hugging herself rather than crossing her chest defiantly. The back of her neck prickled a little, and she turned away from her roommate. “You don’t understand,” was all she said.

“Oh? Enlighten me, then.”

“What do you want me to say?” Glinda glared at the window as she spoke. “I can’t just walk away from everything I’ve ever known, Elphaba. What if I still want to be friends with them? What’s so wrong with that?”

“Gee, let’s think.” The blonde turned to see her roommate looking up, mockingly pondering the idea. “I don’t know, maybe the fact that they’re pathetic and cruel and a bunch of spoiled brats?”

She scowled at the green girl. Every word she spoke was hitting a little too close to home, although she would never admit it. “You know, you’re not exactly innocent, either.”

“Wow, did you come up with that by yourself?”

“See, just like that! You’re as cruel as they are!”

“Then why in Oz are you bothering with me?” Elphaba asked, jumping to her feet to tower over the blonde.

“Maybe I won’t from now on!” Glinda answered, stepping forward to get into Elphaba’s face. Just like last time, the green girl took a half-step back, flinching away from the sudden close contact. Glinda seized the advantage and followed her. “You know, I’ve gotten nothing but trouble since I started standing up for you. My friends mock me, the whole school is spreading rumors about me, and you can’t even try to understand! Maybe I _should_ just go back to making your life miserable.”

Elphaba let out a short, harsh laugh. “That didn’t last long. Is the real world too much for Miss Perfect?”

Glinda made a noise of frustration and took a step away, giving them both space. “Maybe I struggle with myself, Elphaba, but I’m not the only one. At least _I_ fit into society. At least _I’m_ trying to be nice. At least _I’m_ not some devilish, green-skinned—”

Glinda clapped her hands over her mouth as soon as the words slipped out, but it was too late. The door banged shut, rattling the entire room, and Elphaba was gone.

 

***

 

Elphaba stormed out of Crage Hall, gritting her teeth so hard her jaw hurt. _I don’t care,_ she thought to herself. _It doesn’t matter. Nothing she says matters. I should be completely used to this by now._

Her first thought was to go to the library, but her feet took her somewhere else. The sun had dipped below the horizon, and the temperature was dropping quickly. As much as she hated to admit it, Pfannee had been right about her not being able to afford a coat. The green girl felt her cheeks darken at the thought, and suddenly she was furious all over again.

She didn’t want Glinda to face the cruelty of her friends, but how could she protect her if she insisted on still hanging out with them? And why in Oz did she care so much anyway? Glinda Upland meant nothing to her. She was airheaded and rude, just like her pack of snobs.

But…that wasn’t quite right. _Galinda_ Upland was all of those things and worse, but not Glinda. Elphaba sighed, rubbing her forehead. Glinda was the girl who turned in her history paper early, who actually tried in her classes, even when her friends laughed their work off. She was the girl who fixed Elphaba’s dress without any explanation, and who risked getting soaked without knowing what the water would do to Elphaba. She was the one who stayed after class when Dr. Dillamond said he was leaving and who picked the green girl up off the ground when she completely lost control. Even before she had officially decided to change, Glinda was there, shining through her well-groomed, primped and proper exterior.

Maybe everything had just switched now. Galinda was still there, coming up every once in a while. The blonde girl couldn’t turn her life around overnight. Elphaba knew that. And she also knew that she had no idea how hard this was for her roommate. She just didn’t know how to protect her, how to support her. She didn’t know how to be Glinda’s friend.

The green girl found herself on the steps of the history building.

She now hated that class. Professor Nikidik was clueless and arrogant, and he shared the rest of Oz’s prejudice against anything that was different. She desperately missed Dr. Dillamond. Without really thinking about it, she pushed the doors open and slipped inside.

 

***

 

Glinda pulled her coat tighter around herself. _Great job, Glinda,_ she silently cursed herself for the thousandth time. All this talk about changing who she was, becoming a better person, and she still couldn’t be a good friend to Elphaba. After all that she had put her roommate through…

The blonde wandered through campus, wondering where to go. She had grabbed her key and gone after Elphaba as quickly as possible, but of course she wasn’t fast enough to catch up with her—it also didn’t help that the green girl’s legs were so much longer than hers. She had tried the library, but for once, there was no sign of her roommate there.

_So where would she…_ An idea came to her, and she headed toward the academic buildings.

Night had long since fallen on campus, and the buildings were mostly locked. Glinda looked around and, when she saw no one, murmured a quick spell under her breath. The door to the history building clicked open, and she slipped inside. She wasn’t as familiar with the place as her roommate was, but it didn’t take her long to find what she was looking for.

“Elphaba?”

The green girl was sitting outside Dillamond’s old office, her back against the closed door, hugging her knees to her chest. She didn’t open her eyes at the blonde’s voice, but she did respond, her voice just as soft. “How did you know where to find me?”

Glinda hesitated, still standing a few feet away. “Well, you weren’t at the library. I figured this would be the next option.”

Dark lips twitched ever so slightly, and she opened her eyes. “This place is empty, you know,” Elphaba said hollowly. “Morrible cleared it out, I’ll bet. There’s not a single scrap of paper left. Everything he ever did is just…gone.”

Glinda raised her eyes to look at the dark wood behind her roommate. “What do you think happened to it all?”

Elphaba closed her eyes again and let out a breath. “She destroyed it. But…the place still kind of smells like him.”

She bit her lip. “Elphie, I…”

“Yeah,” the green girl said. Her eyes opened and met the blonde’s, glancing over them long enough to tell her everything she couldn’t voice. “Me too.”

Glinda smiled sadly, but her roommate was looking away again. Slowly, gently, she padded over and sat next to the green girl. And then, with all the tender shyness in the world, she placed her hand next to the green one and hooked her pinky around Elphaba’s.

Neither one of them said anything, but they stayed like that for a long, long time.


	24. Chapter 24

The week was dragging by. The threat of finals was a little over a month away, but it was still looming darkly on the edge of Glinda’s mind. Elphaba, too, was preparing, spending even more time than usual buried in her books. Glinda noticed, however, that more often than not she had an old journal with her instead of her lecture notes. The green girl had carried that book around like a lifeline ever since Dr. Dillamond had left. Although she had no idea how to ask about it, the blonde was growing more and more curious.

But she couldn’t focus too much on that at the moment—not with everything else going on.

Everywhere she went now, people would cast thinly disguised stares in her direction. Whispers would echo off the hallways when she walked by, and the few words she caught weren’t exactly complimentary. Glinda Upland was used to attention, but not like this. More than once, she wondered how Elphaba could ever stand it.

Despite the rumors that now floated uneasily around her, and despite the events outside Crage Hall, she was still planning to go out with her friends on Saturday. The weather had warmed slightly that week, and while the blonde was looking forward to snow, she was eager to make the most of the clear ground while she still could.

Still, it wasn’t exactly the ideal weekend to look forward to. That, combined with her roommate’s secrecy about the journal and the thought of finals creeping closer, made the week crawl by as she waited with nervous anticipation.

Almost just to distract herself, Glinda devoted much of her time to studying, especially when it came to sorcery. After a few tense spells to prove she was harmless, Elphie had agreed to not run away every time the blonde practiced magic. In fact, the two had taken to studying together in their room.

These were the afternoons that Glinda loved most. Each girl kept to their side of the room, buried in books or papers. The gentle scribbling of pen on parchment provided just enough noise to keep the blonde at ease. There were no interruptions, no hurtful rumors or vicious classmates. Nothing but companionship and knowledge, floating gently between them as they went about their separate tasks.

On these afternoons, nothing seemed impossible for the blonde. The peaceful quiet of their dorm seemed to calm her down, and something about the green girl sitting at her desk allowed Glinda to channel her energy more precisely. Her breathing was steadier, her hands trembled less when she went to cast. The words she needed came clearly to her mind, and she never stumbled over pronunciations. Once, she even swiped one of the healing dummies from the sorcery building and practiced on it back in her room. It took only one try to pull the spell off perfectly.

Glinda didn’t know why, although she did wonder about it a lot. Perhaps it was something to do with Elphaba’s own magic. Perhaps it was the fact that she was, for the first time since moving to Shiz, with someone who accepted her for who she was beneath the painted exterior.

She shook her head, coming back from her thoughts and into the present. Elphaba was jammed into the corner of her bed, trapped against the wall by an ever-growing pile of textbooks and journals. She was hunched over a small stack of papers, writing furiously on what seemed to be the seventh page of her life sciences essay. Glinda looked back at her own bed, where she was sitting cross-legged in front of her sorcery book. She turned her attention once more to the page on beginner pyromancy spells.

_Palm up,_ she read, _with the fingers cupped gently, as if holding a bowl. Slow, steady breathing is essential for both conjuring and controlling the flames. The energy should come from the center of the palm, where the bones of the fingers begin._

Glinda’s brow furrowed. The fingers didn’t begin in the middle of the palm. She looked skeptically at her hand. “…Elphie?”

“Mm?” The green girl didn’t even look up.

“I think this book is wrong.”

Ever the defender of books, Elphaba looked over, somewhat interested. “Glinda, that’s a sorcery book. I wouldn’t know anything about it.”

“It’s talking about bones,” the blonde said, still gazing down at her hand.

Now her roommate was curious. She gently removed herself from her barricade of texts and made her way to Glinda’s bed. “But that’s biology,” she said, looking over Glinda’s shoulder. “What does that have to do with magic?”

Glinda pointed to the passage. “There are focal points in the body where energy flows better. You know, like your gut, the spot in your chest where your lungs meet, the balls of your feet and palms of your hands. Energy is pooled there, and you draw on one of those points to convert it into magic. With training, you can even open up more energy stores, like the base of your skull or the small of your back. There was a famous sorceress once who…why are you looking at me like that?”

The green girl was indeed staring at her in wonder, marveling at the knowledge that had just poured from her roommate. She shook her head slightly. “You…never mind. It’s nothing. So, what did you think was wrong?”

The blonde held up her hand again. “It says the center of your palm, but then it also says where your fingers start. That’s not the same place.”

Elphaba grinned. She grabbed Glinda’s hand and squeezed the center of it, rubbing her fingers gently back and forth. “Here. You feel that?”

For a second, all Glinda could feel was a tingling where green skin was connected with hers. She swallowed. “Um…”

“There are multiple layers to your fingers. The first one begins right about here,” Elphaba told her, squeezing the spot. “If you probe a little, you can feel them. See?”

Glinda pulled her scattered thoughts together and took her hand back, shifting her fingers over it just as Elphaba had. Sure enough, she felt distinct ridges beneath her skin. “Huh. I never knew that.”

“Well, you never paid attention in life sciences.” Elphaba grinned before looking back down at the sorcery book. “It’s interesting that the two interlace, though. I always thought sorcery and science to be complete opposites, but if magic is affected by the body…and then it, in turn, would affect…” She trailed off, and Glinda watched as her eyes lost their focus, already running through some vast store of knowledge and theories, known only to her.

“Um, Elphie?”

The green girl snapped back to attention. “S-sorry. Interesting. So, uh, what spell are you trying to cast anyway?” She seemed eager to change the subject, but Glinda narrowed her eyes, unsure if she wanted to let that happen. But before she could press the matter, Elphaba was looking at the book again.

“Fire?” Her eyes widened slightly, the green girl’s way of displaying complete shock. “Need I remind you that we’re _inside_?”

The blonde giggled. “It’s perfectly safe, Elphie.”

Apparently Elphaba didn’t think so, because she was quick to scramble off the bed and retreat to her side of the room. “I’m not sure I believe you. Have you ever done this before?”

“Well, no.”

“Oz help us.”

Glinda stuck her tongue out. “You have no faith in me. Just watch.” She held out her hand and took a deep breath, focusing on the center of her palm. The skin there started to warm ever so slightly. Despite herself, Elphaba sank onto her bed and watched, curiosity evident in her eyes.

Nothing happened. Glinda’s palm was warm with energy, but she couldn’t start a spark. Her brow furrowed and she fought to keep her breaths measured. What if she couldn’t do it? What if Elphaba laughed at her? Or worse, what if the flames blazed out of control, and one of them ended up hurt?

Her palm heated up suddenly, and she jumped back a little. There was a soft _fwoosh_ and then, sure enough, a tiny fire was glowing. It flickered, hovering an inch or so above her hand.

“I did it!” the blonde exclaimed, jumping to her feet. “I actually did it!”

Elphaba made a faint noise. “So you didn’t know what you were doing?” Her face had turned a slightly paler green than usual.

Glinda giggled and held her hand closer to her face. The flames danced about, a slight pink tinge to them. She turned and beamed at her roommate. “Aren’t they gorgeous?”

The green girl just blinked, still flustered. Glinda realized, with a sudden, exhilarating rush of joy, that she had just impressed her roommate. “Come on,” she said, going over to her desk and rummaging around. “This calls for a celebration.”

“A celebration?”

“Yep,” the blonde said happily. “Let’s go to the canal, set a blanket up by one of the trees. I haven’t been able to sit in the sunlight in _ages_.”

Elphaba raised an eyebrow, quickly regaining her composure. “That would be because it’s _cold_ outside.”

Glinda finally found what she was looking for. She grabbed a glass jar and held it over the fire in her hand, scooping up the flames. “This will keep us warm,” she said, giggling again at the look on her roommate’s face. “Now come on! You can even keep studying; I just want to go outside!”

The green girl mumbled something under her breath, but nevertheless she slipped on her boots and followed her roommate out the door.

 

***

 

To Elphaba’s surprise, the flames worked. Glinda spread a blanket beneath one of the trees lining the Suicide Canal and placed the jar of strange fire behind them. It warmed their backs enough to make sitting outside rather pleasant, and soon Elphaba relaxed. No one was out wandering the campus in this weather. She didn’t have to worry about rumors or classmates crashing into their peaceful afternoon, and Glinda even seemed content to just study quietly beside her. The green girl smiled to herself, just a little.

“Elphaba? What are you doing out here?”

She looked up from her book to find Boq passing by. He changed direction and walked up to them, followed closely by Crope and Tibbett. “Are you crazy?” the Munchkin asked, “It’s freezing out here.”

Glinda smiled a little and reached behind them. “Little things like the weather don’t bother those who are resourceful enough,” she said, holding up the jar of flames for the boys to see. She giggled at the stunned look on their faces, and even Elphaba smirked.

“I don’t know what’s stranger,” Crope said. “Fire in a jar, or the fact that Miss Glinda and Miss Elphaba are together in public.”

“It seems that Shiz is full of all sorts of magic today,” Tibbett agreed.

Glinda returned the jar to its spot, smiling a little at the use of her new name. “Yes, well, you mustn’t tell Morrible. Using spells outside of class is prohibited.”

“Breaking the rules, Miss Glinda?” Tibbett said, gasping dramatically. “You _have_ been spending time with the green girl.”

“You know, there are people saying our lovely artichoke bewitched poor young Glinda here. Perhaps it’s true.” But Crope smiled good-naturedly at both of them. Elphaba just rolled her eyes.

“Of course,” Tibbett began, dropping his voice to a whisper and waggling his eyebrows at Crope, “There are other ways of bewitching that have nothing to do with magic.”

Before either girl could respond, Boq had smacked both boys over the head. “Knock it off, you two. Being inappropriate on your own is one thing, but around ladies it’s just—”

“Oh, don’t burst a vein, my dear Munchkin,” Crope said, throwing an arm around Boq’s shoulders. “It’s all in good fun.”

“Besides,” Tibbett added, “I personally think that pink goes rather well with green.”

Glinda tried and failed not to blush at that. Elphaba closed her book and set it to the side, looking up at the boys. “If it’s so cold, why are you all wandering the campus?”

“Trying to get rid of us, Miss Elphaba?” Crope and Tibbett pouted. “Do you not enjoy our company?”

For some reason, Glinda found the boys endearing. Their humor was light-hearted instead of malicious, and she welcomed the change. “Well,” she said lightly, cutting her roommate off before she could respond, “I daresay you can’t pull off that pout half as well as me, but you’re welcome to sit with us.” She expected Elphaba to grumble, but instead the green girl just crossed her legs to make room for the boys.

Boq blushed furiously as he sat down on the blanket. “Y-you’re too kind, Miss Ga—I mean, Miss Glinda.”

“Oh, here we go,” Crope and Elphaba said together, both rolling their eyes. This set Glinda and Tibbett into a fit of laughter, and even Boq grinned sheepishly.


	25. Chapter 25

Glinda woke Saturday morning—after a restless night of flipping over and shivering in covers and pillows that just wouldn’t sit right—to the faint sound of pen scratching paper. The noise used to bother her to no end, but it was soon becoming somewhat comforting. She rolled over to look at her roommate.

Elphaba paused when she heard the rustling of sheets. She glanced up, almost apologetically. “I didn’t mean to wake you. I’ll go to the library.”

“No,” Glinda said quickly. She propped herself up on her elbows. “It’s fine. I need to get ready anyway.” She hopped out of bed and went to her wardrobe, only halfheartedly tugging on dresses and shoes to figure out what to wear.

Elphaba watched, raising an eyebrow at the uncharacteristic lack of excitement. “Glinda…are you sure you want to go with them today?”

The blonde kept sorting through her clothes. “Why wouldn’t I? It’s shopping, which I love. And my friends, who…” She trailed off, her fingers hesitating on the dress she was holding. “Um, anyway. What are you doing today?”

The green girl shifted her papers a little, tucking them further out of sight. “The usual,” she said casually. It was Glinda’s turn to raise her eyebrows. The roommates just stared at each other, neither one of them quite understanding the other.

Glinda broke eye contact first, turning back to her wardrobe and pulling out a fluffy pink dress. “This’ll do,” she said to herself.

“Mind if I go in first?” Elphaba asked, standing up and pulling a random outfit out of her wardrobe. “I don’t want to wait for the next hour to change.”

“Hey, I don’t take an _hour_.” Glinda crossed her arms over her chest with a huff. The green girl grinned.

“Fine. Fifty minutes, whatever.” She ducked past the blonde and slipped into the bathroom. Glinda couldn’t help but giggle a little as she set her outfit down on the bed and waited.

Something on Elphaba’s desk caught her eye. It was that old journal, the one she’d been clinging to since Dr. Dillamond left. Glinda bit her lip, glancing at the bathroom door. A thousand reasons not to look ran through her head—Elphie would be out soon, she would notice if the journal was moved, she respected her roommate’s privacy, she was terrified of how Elphaba would react—but somehow that didn’t stop her from tiptoeing to the desk and leaning over.

The bathroom door rattled. Glinda squeaked and jumped to her wardrobe, pretending to dig through the rows of shoes.

“All yours, blondie,” Elphaba said, sitting back down at her desk. Glinda watched her out of the corner of her eye. The green girl made no reaction; she simply picked up her pen and began working again. Glinda bit back a sigh of relief and, grabbing her clothes from her bed, slipped into the bathroom to change.

Half an hour later, the blonde came out of the bathroom fully dressed and complete with curled hair, makeup, and simple emerald earrings. Elphaba watched her slip on a pair of heels, vaguely remembering the night with the sticking solution. That led to thoughts of her mother’s bottle, and bugs between sheets, and magic humming through the air of their room as they glared stubbornly at each other, each of them ready to kill… She stared at her tiny blonde roommate and, for a brief moment, barely recognized her.

Glinda noticed Elphaba shaking her head. “What is it?” she asked, grabbing her clutch.

The green girl looked distracted. “N-nothing.”

“It’ll be fine, Elphie. Just a nice, peaceful day of friends and shopping.”

Elphaba rolled her eyes. “Nice and peaceful. Right.”

The blonde started to look offended, but then her face fell. “You don’t get it, okay? I don’t want to just shove them out of my life and never speak to them again. I still want us all to be friends. Is that so bad? Besides, if I can change, they can, too.”

_But you’re different from them,_ Elphaba wanted to say. Instead, she just shrugged and went back to her desk.

“What, you don’t think so?”

Elphaba barely looked up. “They’re your friends. You know better than I do.” When the blonde just stood there, Elphaba sighed. “Just go, Glinda. Have fun. Don’t spend too much time with your tongue down Fiyero’s throat.”

“Fiyero and I broke up.”

Now the green girl really looked up, just in time to see Glinda’s cheeks reddening as she turned away. Before Elphaba could piece together something—anything—to say, the blonde had marched out of the room.

Elphaba turned back to her desk, cursing herself.

 

***

 

Glinda took deep breaths, calming herself as she headed for the café. She didn’t want to be mad at Elphaba—after all, how was the green girl supposed to know?—but the remark still hurt.

She let the morning wind cool down her face as she walked through campus. It wasn’t Elphaba’s fault. It wasn’t hers, either. Fiyero wasn’t what she wanted anymore. And even if he was, she thought to herself, she certainly wouldn’t be sticking her tongue down his throat.

“Galinda, _finally_. What took you so long?”

Glinda was waved over by Milla. The café was mostly empty, and her friends had taken up a long table in a corner. To her disappointment, Fiyero and Avaric were sitting with them.

“The boys wanted to come with us, especially since Avaric missed the last time,” Pfannee said. “You don’t mind, do you?”

As a matter of fact, Glinda did mind. She didn’t want to spend the day awkwardly avoiding Fiyero, and Avaric was…well, Avaric. But she also wanted to have a good time, so she just smiled sweetly and took the seat next to Shenshen. “Not at all.”

Fiyero smiled tentatively at her from across the table. It was better than glaring at her, she supposed. She returned the smile with only a little hesitancy.

The lack of other students seemed to excite the group, and the conversation drifted louder than usual. Avaric drawled on about some exaggerated story, raising his voice whenever someone tried to break in. Pfannee giggled loudly, batting her eyelashes and hanging on to his every word. Eventually someone asked Fiyero something about his life in the Vinkus, and the dark-skinned boy took over, with Avaric inserting snide comments and the girls giggling and swooning.

Glinda was content to just sit quietly and watch them all. She entertained herself for a while by trying to guess how much of the boys’ stories was true and how much was made up for the girls’ sake. But her peace didn’t last, for eventually someone had to make a jab at her.

Pfannee, of course, was the first one. “So, Galinda, what are you going to get in town? A new dress for your green bean charity project?”

“No, I don’t think so,” the blonde replied easily. “I guess I’ll just look around and buy whatever catches my eye.”

“The green bean charity project?” Avaric snickered. “I thought Pfannee was joking when she said the two of you were friends.”

“The freak would do well with a new dress,” Milla said thoughtfully. “New clothes, a makeover, _something_ to make her less hideous.”

“Don’t tell me you’re taking pity on her, too.” Pfannee rolled her eyes. “It’s bad enough that Galinda over here’s been bewitched.”

“What would you know of bewitching?” Glinda replied. “You barely know anything about your general classes. Oz knows how much you’d struggle with sorcery.”

Shenshen covered her mouth to stifle her laugh. Pfannee shot her a look.

“Galinda’s getting feisty,” Avaric sniggered. “Just the way we like ‘em, right Fiyero?”

The prince rubbed the back of his neck and avoided the question. “So where do you all want to go today?”

Glinda took a breath as the attention was diverted away from her. She was suddenly unsure if she could make it through the day—and they hadn’t even finished breakfast yet.

“What about dinner at the Peach and Kidneys?” Milla asked, then she turned to Glinda. “Or has your roommate sabotaged the place again?”

“We’ve done nothing to her lately, so she has no reason for revenge,” the blonde answered.

“What, are you defending her actions now?” Pfannee’s eyes narrowed, but Glinda just sighed.

“All I’m saying is that it’s in the past, and we should leave it there.”

“That’s no fun,” Avaric said with a mock pout. “I barely got the chance to torment the vegetable. And here I was hoping I could figure out some more of her secrets.”

“Her secrets are none of your concern, Master Avaric.” Glinda struggled to keep her tone even.

“That doesn’t stop my curiosity,” he answered. “For example, exactly what does a green bean look like naked? I mean, she claims to be a girl, but with those loose fitting dresses it’s hard to tell.”

“You are vile, Avaric,” she said tightly. “And what you’re suggesting is despicable.”

Avaric smirked. “Oh come on. Are you telling me you’re not the least bit curious to see whether or not _Elphie_ is green all over?”

“Don’t call her that!” Glinda snapped. A surge of anger swept through the blonde. The silverware in front of her rattled, and she clenched her fists, forcing herself to calm down.

“Oh,” Milla whispered loudly to Pfannee. “Can you imagine the freak’s reaction to—”

“We should go,” Fiyero said quickly, cutting her off. “Why waste time here when the city awaits?” He stood hastily and began ushering them to the door.

Glinda trailed behind the group, her stomach twisting into little knots with every step she took closer to the campus gates. She could feel, faintly, the tug of magic travelling through her. _Maybe today wasn’t a good idea,_ she thought to herself. In fact, by the time they reached the main square near the entrance, she was sure that going to town with the group would be a huge mistake. But how could she excuse herself now?

“I just don’t know why she gets all defensive.” Pfannee’s voice drifted back to her. “If it were _me,_ I’d be all for whatever drives the moldy bitch away.”

That was it.

“All right, look.” Glinda planted her feet in the middle of the square and waited for the others to stop and face her. “We planned today so that we could all hang out and be friends again, but you’re purposefully trying to get a rise out of me, and I’m sick of it. Why is it so hard for you to just have a day of peace?”

“No one’s disturbing the peace but you, Galinda,” Pfannee said, crossing her arms over her chest.

Glinda’s hands curled into fists. “That’s such a lie! All morning—no, the last few _weeks_ —you’ve been saying these things about me and Elphaba, all these snide remarks about us being friends, and it’s obnoxious! I never said you had to like her. I never said you had to get along with her. All I’m asking is for you to stop treating her so awfully, and stop taking it out on me when I’m around!”

Avaric opened his mouth to protest, but Glinda spun around and pointed at him. “And _you._ I don’t know why _anyone_ thinks you’re so charming or attractive, when in fact you’re nothing but a foul, loathsome, disgusting excuse of a human being.” She took a deep breath and glared at all of them. “I can’t believe you all. You think you’re so high and mighty, simply because you push down everyone else. Well, I can’t stand acting like that, and I can’t stand being around others who act like that. Not anymore.”

The blonde stopped and looked around. Avaric and Pfannee were staring daggers at her. Milla and Shenshen had a shocked sort of scowl on their faces, and Fiyero looked like he was torn between defiance and embarrassment.

“I don’t mean to hurt you all,” Glinda spoke again, her voice and face softening. “I never wanted any of this to come between us. Please, we can all still be friends, can’t we?”

“With that awful green—?”

“I’m not forcing you to get along with her. But still,” the blonde said, almost pleading, “If you just had a chance to get to know her, she’s—”

“No!” Pfannee all but snarled. “What’s gotten into you, Galinda?” The blonde’s eyes flashed. “Seriously, what’s the meaning of all this? Being her friend, defending her! If it’s pity, then you’re wasting your time. If you’re actually her friend, then—then—that’s just disgusting!”

“It’s _Glinda._ ” She crossed her arms. “And Elphaba is a better friend than any of you ever were.”

With that, she turned on her heel and stormed away from the square, quite literally leaving everything she had thought she wanted behind her.

 

***

 

“What a bitch,” Pfannee muttered. “Come on. The carriage will be more comfortable with just five people, anyway.”

Milla sighed. “I just don’t understand. What kind of person would give up their popularity like that?”

Shenshen nodded sadly, following the others toward the gates.

Fiyero hesitated, staring after the blonde. Avaric clapped him on the shoulder. “Don’t worry, Master Fiyero. She was a nice catch, but she’s hardly worth all this drama. We’ll just get you laid some other way.”

The Vinkan turned to see everyone watching him, waiting. Maybe Avaric was right. Maybe it wasn’t worth all the drama. With a slight sigh, he followed them away. He didn’t even look over his shoulder as they climbed into the waiting carriage.

 

***

 

“Before you say anything, don’t.”

Elphaba looked up at her roommate’s sudden entrance. The blonde was trembling from head to toe. Her fists were clenched so tightly her knuckles turned white, and her eyes—though obviously holding back tears—were a brighter blue than she’d ever seen. Elphaba leaned back slightly, torn between awe and fear.

Glinda slammed the door behind her and marched to her side of the room. The green girl watched her, wide-eyed, but she stayed uncharacteristically quiet. Glinda sat down on the bed and tugged off her heels. She looked up at Elphaba. “Okay, you can say _something._ Just don’t say _I told you so._ ”

Realization flashed across the green face. She cleared her throat nervously. “W-whatever happened…I’m sorry.”

Glinda sighed. “It’s not your fault.”

“Was it about me?”

“Well…sort of, yeah.”

Elphaba nodded, but Glinda scowled at her. “That doesn’t make it your fault, Elphie.”

The green girl brought her knees to her chest and rested her chin on them. “Please. If you weren’t trying to be my friend—and we both know the consequences that brings just by itself—then they wouldn’t treat you this way. If you weren’t nice to me, then they’d still be friends with you.”

“Maybe I don’t want to be friends with them anymore.”

Elphaba blinked and looked up at her roommate. The blonde flopped onto her back and sighed up at the ceiling. “I thought I could have everything. I-I thought I could bring out the best in everyone, and then we’d all get along.”

Elphaba sat very still, wondering what to do. “It’s not your fault, Glinda. It’s not that you don’t bring out the best in people. It’s just that _I_ bring out the worst.”

Still laying down, Glinda shook her head. “I just wish…” she trailed off, then let out a choked laugh. “I wish I wasn’t this upset over them. I’m the one who told them off and walked away, yet where did we all end up? They’re laughing about it in a carriage on the way to go shopping, and I’m in my room, trying not to cry in front of my roommate for fear that she’ll laugh at me, too.” Her voice cracked and by the end she was indeed crying.

“I’m not laughing,” Elphaba said quietly. She didn’t know why, but the sight of her roommate’s tears made it hard to breathe. She stood and walked over to the bed. Glinda looked up at her as she sat down. Instinct took over and Elphaba held out her arms.

Glinda climbed into her embrace, crying even harder. The green girl stroked her hair and brushed the tears from her cheeks, barely noticing the sting. “Don’t. You’ll smudge.”

A mix between a sob and a giggle escaped her lips, and she clung even tighter to Elphaba. One green hand moved to Glinda’s shoulder blades, rubbing soothing circles and scratching gently. After a moment, Elphaba started humming quietly, some gentle melody that Glinda didn’t recognize, but calmed her down all the same.

Some time passed before Glinda pulled away slightly. She wiped her cheeks and sniffled a little. “Sorry I’m such a mess,” she murmured.

Elphaba rolled her eyes. “Believe me, I’ve seen worse.”

Glinda laughed shakily. The green girl gently disentangled herself and retreated to her own bed. “And um, for the record…”

The blonde looked curiously up at her. Elphaba cleared her throat nervously. “I do think you bring out the best in people. At least, you did for me.”

Glinda didn’t know what to say, so she simply hugged her knees to her chest and smiled into them.

“Do you want to talk about it?” Elphaba asked, her face still full of concern.

The blonde shrugged. “What’s there to talk about? They were horrible at breakfast—Oz, it made me sick to my stomach, some of the things they said—and I didn’t want to spend the day like that. So I told them off for being terrible human beings and I came back here.”

There it was again, that awe and admiration Elphaba suddenly felt for her roommate. “You make it sound so casual,” she said.

“Is it really that big of a deal?” Glinda asked sadly. “It’s something I should have done weeks ago.”

Elphaba shook her head. “You didn’t want to hurt them. This can’t have been easy for you. That makes it a big deal.”

The blonde looked away, biting back more tears. Just like that, the green girl was seeing right through her again, in a way no one else had ever been able to.

Elphaba stood. “Don’t cry, Glinda.”

“I’m not.”

The green girl wrung her hands together. “I-I’m gonna let you have the room to yourself. Just for a little while,” she added as the blonde looked up at her. “You know I’m no good with emotions, and this way you can scream or cry or just breathe a little without worrying about how I’ll react. If you need me…you know where to find me.” She offered a small smile, and Glinda couldn’t help but return it.

“Thank you, Elphie.”

Elphaba took her hand and squeezed it gently, then grabbed her bag and left before the blonde could hear the ridiculously loud pounding of her heart. Once the door shut softly behind her, she pressed a hand to the wall and took a shaky breath. _Oz, why was she blushing all of a sudden?_ Before the thoughts could completely take over, she started off, heading for the library.

 

***

 

Glinda was stretched out on her bed, fingers drumming on her stomach, staring at the ceiling. She tried not to think of where Pfannee and the rest of them were. She tried not to think of the Owl waitress at the Peach and Kidneys, and how badly she was being treated if she had to serve them. She tried not to think of how many people would snicker at her if they saw her in that moment, wearing her old, cozy sweater with no makeup on and her hair sprawled messily across the sheets around her head.

Instead, she thought of her green roommate—slender fingers gripping hers gently, the soft humming that steadied her, the rare, almost shy smile she had offered Glinda. How many people did Elphaba genuinely smile at? Was she one of the only ones? She grinned up at the ceiling. Who needed those shallow fools when she had a friend as sincere and heartfelt as Elphie?

But then she sighed. No matter what she told herself, this wasn’t going to be easy. Getting out of bed and facing the rest of the university again would hurt. They would talk about her, stare at her, judge her. Just the thought of it caused panic to bubble up in her chest. She had always been at the top of society: rich, pretty, fashionable, sweet. Never had she been the social outcast; she didn’t know what to do. Sure, she had Elphie. But everything else she knew here at Shiz was gone.

No, not just gone—turned against her.

The door opened and in stepped Elphaba. Glinda turned to look and found her holding a steaming mug. The blonde sat up as Elphaba put down her bag and walked over to the bed.

“I got hot cocoa,” Elphaba said, holding the drink out uncertainly. Glinda squealed happily and took it, breathing in the thick, sweet smell of chocolate.

“Wait,” she said, looking back at the green girl. “You didn’t get any for yourself?”

Elphaba shrugged. “The cafeteria makes it with water.”

Glinda stared at her for a moment, taking in the slightly darker shade of her cheeks, the way her eyes stayed down, how her fingers wrung together in front of her. It was such a small thing, really, but at the moment it seemed like the kindest thing anyone had ever done for her.

Glinda thought of this new side of her roommate, and that’s when she realized. Her life had changed so much the past couple of weeks, but not all the changes were bad. She thought of how her magic had improved, and how much she’d learned in her classes. She thought of the day out by the canal, talking and laughing with Crope and Tibbett and Boq. She thought of Elphaba, who was far, far more than just a green girl who she was forced to room with.

The blonde smiled again and reached out, stilling anxious green hands.

“Thank you, Elphie.”


	26. Chapter 26

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Woo! Finally caught up! New chapters will be up on a (hopefully) regular basis now, like usual.

The weekend passed all too quickly for Glinda, and soon enough she was sitting alone at a table before her life sciences class. Pfannee, Milla, and Shenshen had taken the table behind her, and she could feel their stares on the back of her head. Every giggle that drifted toward her ears made her stomach twist. If she could just get through this class then she’d be off to mathematics, where she could sit next to Elphaba, but for now she was alone.

To distract herself, she doodled aimlessly in the margins of her notebook. Random swirls and shapes started to take form: first a tall, arching window, then another one to match. Then a door between them, complete with an intricate knocker and steps going down. Glinda furrowed her brow and went on, sketching out stories and pillars, filling in brick or stone, adding windows and towers wherever she saw fit. She started jotting down notes about materials and colors and what sort of rooms would go where.

The teacher walked into the classroom with a cheery, “Good morning, class,” and began writing that day’s lesson on the board. Glinda sighed with relief and started copying down the notes, switching every once and a while between the lecture and her drawing. She could still hear the other girls behind her, but their whispers weren’t quite as threatening as before.

In some far off corner of the campus, the bell tower chimed the hour. Glinda scooped up her books and hurried off to the math building before anyone could stop and talk to her. Pfannee and the others were in her math class, too, but maybe she could get a few minutes without them.

She walked into the classroom and straight up to the desk next to Elphaba. The green girl was bent over a notebook, writing intently, but she glanced up just long enough to give Glinda a half-smile greeting.

The blonde sat down and immediately immersed herself in her sketch again. Now she was adding angles and measurements in tiny lettering. She quickly wrote out some multiplication problems for the square footage, circled the answer, and went back to sketching.

“Whoa.” Glinda looked up to see Elphaba looking over at her desk, eyebrows raised. “You did this?” Dark eyes rose to meet hers.

Glinda felt the blood rush to her face and she looked back down at the drawing without answering.

Elphaba looked around, making sure the classroom was empty before she leaned in closer. “Glinda…that’s really good. I didn’t know you can draw. What building is that?”

The blonde flushed deeper. “I-I designed it.” She put her pen down and studied the drawing critically. “It’s just something I scribbled out last period.”

Elphaba reached over and tugged the corner of the paper, pulling it to where she could see better. “I didn’t know you were interested in architecture.”

“It’s what I would have studied if I didn’t like sorcery.” Glinda looked back up at her roommate, gaining some confidence back. “I adore it. The design, the creativity, making something completely from scratch. And the fact that it’s hard, honest work. Facts and figures are concrete—absolute—something you can rely on and build on.” She stopped and pressed her lips together, but before she could get too embarrassed, Elphaba grinned and shook her head.

“I’ve never seen you that enthusiastic about anything but shopping,” she said.

Glinda smiled back, but it soon faltered. “Well, I don’t usually talk about it much. Especially not with…” She trailed off as the rest of the class began shuffling in. Elphaba followed the blonde’s gaze to the three girls who had just entered the classroom. Her eyes darkened a little, and she nodded knowingly as she turned back to Glinda.

“Don’t ever stifle who you are.” There was a quiet sort of intensity to the green girl’s voice. “You shouldn’t have to miss out on your life just to please someone else.”

Before the blonde could respond, Elphaba had turned back to her own desk and was pulling out her math book. Glinda blinked a couple of times, smiling to herself, and then pulled out her own things.

“Sweet Oz, do they sit next to each other in every class now?”

Glinda rolled her eyes. “You’re right, Pfannee,” she said without looking back at them. “Lurline forbid that I sit where I want in class.” Elphaba’s lips twitched.

“Good morning, everybody,” their professor said, walking toward the front of the room. “If I remember correctly, we were just starting our discussion about angle properties and conversions. So, if you will all turn to page three hundred and ninety-four in your books…”

Glinda went through class like normal, copying down the problems as they were given, answering them quickly, and then circling the solution before returning to her various doodles on the side. Every question their teacher asked was met with silence, and Elphaba was left to answer almost every time. The blonde noticed, however, that her roommate waited before raising her hand, and only when the silence began to get uncomfortable did she volunteer. Glinda scowled a little at her notebook. She scribbled a few words down in the margin: _was everything I knew about her wrong?_

She immediately crossed the words out.

When the bell tolled across campus, the roommates packed up and left together. Elphaba glanced cautiously around them as they headed down the path that would lead to Crage Hall. She wanted to ask something, but she didn’t want the blonde’s answer to be overheard and twisted into more vicious insults.

Seeing no one within earshot, she spoke up. “Glinda, why don’t you ever answer in class?”

Glinda stayed quiet for a moment. “Not everyone’s as smart as you, Elphie,” she said quietly, “Math is hard to follow.”

“Not for you,” the green girl pointed out. “I saw you writing all those answers down.”

“They were just guesses,” she replied, a defensive edge to her tone, “They’re not right a lot of the time.”

But that wasn’t true. She had watched her, and Glinda answered every question correctly, sometimes even before Elphaba was finished. The green girl studied her roommate closely. _She’s embarrassed. She’s embarrassed about being smart._

“I guess it makes sense,” Elphaba said casually. “Math fits pretty closely into architecture. I could never do something like that—keep all those angles and dimensions and conversions straight.”

Glinda tilted her head to the side, keeping her eyes on the sidewalk. “But…you already do that. Oz, Elphaba, you’re the smartest one in every class.”

“So then why were you finishing your answers before me half the time?”

The blonde flushed slightly, but she stayed silent. The two girls entered their dorm room, shrugging off their coats as they began to warm up. Elphaba immediately went to her desk and began switching out the books in her bag, but Glinda moved slowly to her bed. She sat down gingerly, twisting her fingers in her lap.

“Elphie?”

“Mm?” The green girl didn’t even look up.

She kept staring at her fingers, tangling and untangling them. “Sometimes it’s…hard.”

Elphaba glanced up at the tone of her voice. Her brow furrowed. “What’s hard?”

“You said not to stifle myself, and I…I want to.”

“Glinda?”

“I want to be good at math and I want to design buildings. I want to do well in all my classes and have all the teachers like me. Believe it or not, I worked _hard_ to get into Shiz. My parents wanted me to just get married, but I fought them until they agreed to let me come here. So yeah, I _want_ to get good grades and learn things. But sometimes…sometimes all I can think about is what people will say…and how they’ll look at me…”

Elphaba just stared at her. The blonde swallowed hard and kept looking down.

“I know that makes me weak, and it’s not fair to you at all, but I just…I can’t...”

“No one’s asking you to change overnight,” she said softly.

“I changed my entire name!” Glinda burst out. “I changed my name, and my friends, and everything! But I’m not strong enough to stop caring about what they think.”

“Oz, Glinda, even _I_ care what they think.”

The blonde’s head jerked up at that. “Y-you do?”

Elphaba nodded, and Glinda shook her head, letting out a choked laugh. “Elphie, you terrible green thing. Here you had us all believing that you didn’t give a twig about what any of us said or did.”

The green girl smiled gently. “That, my sweet, comes from years of practice.” She slung her bag over her shoulder. “I’m going to class. Boq has asked us to join him and Crope and Tibbett for dinner, by the way. Just so you know.” She slipped out the door before the blonde could respond.

Glinda stared at the spot where her roommate had been, thinking hard. _Years of practice?_ It wasn’t the first time she had wondered about Elphie’s home life, but it was the first time she was genuinely, wholeheartedly concerned. She was so preoccupied, in fact, that she almost didn’t notice the words of endearment.

 

***

 

Glinda felt a little anxious when she walked into the café that evening. But unlike Saturday morning, the group almost immediately put her at ease.

Boq waved her over, and she took the seat next to him, across from Elphaba. Crope and Tibbett tipped imaginary hats to her, both of them sporting the same mischievous grin. Conversation rose and fell naturally as the five of them settled in. Crope and Tibbett teased and joked with everyone. Boq blushed frequently and came up with the occasional witty comeback. Elphaba smirked with the boys, falling into casual debates whenever they goaded her. No one laughed harshly and mercilessly at any of the others. No one fought to be the center of attention, or forced a smile, or made vicious remarks just to make themselves seem better.

Glinda enjoyed every second of it.

Every once in a while, she caught Elphaba sneaking glances at her. She couldn’t tell what was on her face—concern? Anxiousness? Content? Was the green girl still thinking about their conversation from that afternoon? Was she worried about what Glinda thought of Boq and the others? Was she just happy that, for once, they got to spend time out and about campus without worrying about everyone else? Whatever the reason, every look Glinda saw out of the corner of her eyes made her cheeks flush a little deeper, the green girl’s attention making dinner that much more enjoyable.


	27. Chapter 27

_What makes a being sentient? How does one prove that level of consciousness?_

Books covered Elphaba’s desk, overflowing onto the floor around her chair. She flipped rapidly through them, scribbling down notes and dog-earing pages as she went. Dr. Dillamond had been in the middle of analyzing the components of the brain: which areas of the mind did what, which chemicals resided in which section, actions, reactions, all coiled up and fit together to create the mind. There were comparisons—the makeup of both humans and animals—to see which one Animals were closer to.

But it wasn’t finished. In fact, this part of the research had only just begun. But so far…so far, the chemical makeup of the Animal brain was identical to the human brain. Elphaba leaned back in her chair, her heart pounding. This was it. This was the proof Dillamond needed, the breakthrough he was so close to. If they could finish this research…

But how? This was farther than anyone had gone before into the biology of living beings. She knew for a fact that the library she relied so heavily on wouldn’t help her now. Maybe there would be more at the boys’ library, in the restricted sections. But she needed a teacher’s signature to get in there, and even then it was just a shot in the dark. This was a completely new field of research. She was going to need more than a library to help her this time.

Elphaba now understood why Morrible had gotten rid of Dr. Dillamond when she did. He needed his labs—it was crucial at this point—and she had cut him off from that. The green girl flipped through the journal. There were notes on the results of his latest experiments. Maybe she could piece together what he had done and replicate it. But that would take time, which was something she didn’t have. Even if she got into Dillamond’s old lab, someone would catch her before she had the chance to do anything.

She closed her eyes and sighed. She was over her head here, and she was alone.

_You don’t have to do this alone, Elphaba._

A green hand reached up and rubbed her brow as Boq’s voice came back to her from last night. He had pulled her gently aside before Glinda showed up.

“You know, you never answered my question.”

The green girl tilted her head. “What question?”

“About Dr. Dillamond.” Boq had lowered his voice so that Crope and Tibbett, who were busy flicking water at each other, wouldn’t hear.

“I told you I didn’t know anything,” she said tensely.

The Munchkin crossed his arms over his chest and scowled at her. “Your tone suggests otherwise.”

“What, you think I’m lying to you?”

“I think there’s more to all of this than we’ve been told. I think you’ve been hiding something since Dillamond left. I think he was forced to leave for reasons other than what Morrible told—hell and Oz, it has something to do with _Morrible,_ doesn’t it?”

Elphaba had tried her hardest not to make a face at the first mention of their headmistress, but she had obviously failed. Boq was staring at her, realization and confusion, nervousness and determination all playing across his face.

“Fine,” she said. “I know something. But it isn’t much, and I don’t want anyone else to get involved.”

“But—”

“ _Listen_ to me,” she hissed. She closed her eyes for a moment, pulling herself together. “I don’t want anyone to get involved because yes, it has to do with Morrible. And if it’s enough to get Dillamond kicked out then I don’t want to know what will happen to anyone else. Whatever this is, it’s controversial. Dangerous. _She’s_ dangerous. I won’t put anyone else at risk.”

Boq’s face softened. “I _want_ to help. I don’t care about the risk. I admired Dillamond, too, and whatever he was working on is more important than the danger.”

But Elphaba was shaking her head. Boq sighed. “I won’t push you right now. Let’s just go eat dinner. But…just think about what I said.” He had reached a hand up, tentatively, and gave her arm a gentle squeeze. “You don’t have to do this alone, Elphaba.”

But she did. Elphaba opened her eyes, pulling herself back to the present. There was a sort of thrill every time she cracked open Dillamond’s journal. If Morrible found out what she was doing…the old Goat’s warnings echoed in her head. _Stay away from her… You don’t know what you’re up against._

With a sigh, the green girl pulled the journal closer and looked at the experiment notes. She could try to recreate the procedures without going into a lab. And there was still plenty of other research she needed to go through. And if she really had to, she could ask Boq to get her into the boys’ library after hours. Maybe then the Munchkin’s desire to help her would be satisfied, and he would leave her alone.

Yes, that would all work. There was still so much to do outside these experiments, stuff she could do on her own. Everything would be just fine.

Elphaba picked up her pencil and began writing again just as the door swung open, revealing a tiny, upset blonde.

“Why do they hate me, Elphie?”

The green girl was distracted, still mentally buried in research and experiments and menacing headmistresses. Somewhere in the back of her mind, she had heard what Glinda said, but she couldn’t bring herself to focus on it at the moment.

“Elphie?”

“What happened this time?” She didn’t mean to sound so impatient, and she didn’t look up to see Glinda wince.

“You know what? Just forget it.” Glinda shuffled over to her side of the room and tossed her bag down.

Elphaba made a noise in the back of her throat, hardly paying any attention. The blonde huffed. “Elphie, what are you doing?”

“None of your business.”

“You’ve been working with that old journal ever since Dr. Dillamond left. Is it his? Is that what it is, his research?”

“It’s none of your business, Glinda.” Now the green girl’s voice was intentionally sharp—a warning.

“Why not? Why can’t I know?”

“Just drop it.”

Glinda pouted. “There’s no need to be so mean.”

“There’s no need to be so nosy.”

“You know, my day was bad enough without you treating me like this.”

Elphaba gripped her pencil. “Please, tell me more about how the entire campus hates you. I couldn’t possibly have any experience with _that._ ”

“Well at least you’re used to it!”

“And I suppose I deserve it, too!”

“When you act like this, yes!”

Elphaba jumped up from her desk. “Well at least you don’t hear me complaining about it every second of the day! It’s almost like there’s more to my life than some petty reputation!” She spun on her heel and stormed out, slamming the door behind her.

Glinda grabbed the pillow on her bed—the closest thing she could reach—and threw it at the closed door. But by the time it hit the floor, all the anger had drained out of her. She walked across the room, picked up the pillow, and tossed it back to her bed.

Someone knocked on the door, so quiet that she barely heard it. Glinda opened it to see Elphaba standing there, an apology in her eyes.

“Oh, Elphie.” The blonde pulled her roommate inside and wrapped her arms around her. “I’m sorry. I’m so, so sorry.”

“I am too.” Elphaba rested her cheek on top of golden hair. “It’s okay. It’ll all be okay, I promise.”

“Will it?” Glinda kept her face buried in the green girl’s shoulder. “I lost all my other friends, and you and I keep arguing like this, and I…I don’t…”

Elphaba gently hushed her. “Just give it some time. Things will settle down. You’re not used to being unpopular, and I’m not used to having a friend, but we’ll figure it out.”

The blonde sniffed. “Promise?”

“I promise, my sweet. It’ll be okay.”

Glinda tightened her arms and buried herself further into the green girl, breathing in the scent of oils and parchment. _It’ll be okay._

 

***

 

Like usual, Elphaba was right, and things at Shiz began to settle down after another week or so.

Glinda learned from Elphie which sidewalks were less traveled, and she got better at avoiding attention as she walked around campus. She focused on her studies, trying to ignore the fact that finals were getting closer and closer. She continued to excel in sorcery—even Madame Morrible had admitted, however grudgingly, that she was now one of the best in the class. Glinda took to sitting near Elphaba or Boq or Crope or Tibbett in every class she had with them. Ignoring the stares and whispers got easier after a while, and when it got to be too much, Elphaba was always there.

The green girl, for her part, found her time equally divided between Dillamond’s research, her upcoming finals, and her roommate. Although the new rumors around the university included her, too, she didn’t care. That is, until she would hear Glinda’s name. The students of Shiz soon learned to shut up whenever Elphaba Thropp was within earshot. If Glinda was with her, then she’d simply put a hand on the blonde’s shoulder and steer her away to safety. If not, then whoever was talking was lucky if they got away with nothing but a menacing glare.

As the girls’ friendship solidified, so did the rest of the group. Boq stopped blushing every time Glinda came into view, and she soon came to enjoy the Munchkin’s company. He kept questioning Elphaba from time to time about Dillamond’s research, but the amount of homework they had soon distracted him from pursuing the matter too much.

Crope and Tibbett took it upon themselves to be the comic relief of the group. They could make any of the latest gossip sound absurd.

“Look out, Shiz!” They were calling out one day as they walked with Elphaba to history. “If she can bewitch the blonde beauty, she can bewitch you! Who will be the next victim of the emerald witch’s spell?”

And try as she might, Elphaba couldn’t keep the scowl on her face.

 

***

 

Although she was stressed about finals, Elphaba couldn’t help but think of what would come afterward.

They had a month off for Lurlinemas and winter break, but Shiz allowed students to stay in the dorm if they wanted to, for no extra cost. From the moment she knew it was an option, Elphaba was determined to stay on campus for break. She dreaded seeing her father again and falling back into the routine of taking care of her family. And now that she had Dillamond’s research to work on, staying here for Lurlinemas was more tempting than ever.

But a letter in the mail changed all of that.

_Dear Fabala,_

_Sorry I haven’t responded since your thank you letter. Father and I have been busy moving into the Colwen Grounds. We’re almost settled in now, and I think we’ll be staying here for a while. Grandfather is really interesting to talk to, although he and Father disagree about a lot of things._

_As for the Grounds themselves, it’s beautiful here. But it is quite a bit larger than anything we’re used to. It will be a relief when you come here for break. If you write back and tell me the day you move out, Grandfather can arrange for a first class carriage to pick you up from Shiz (and don’t worry, we’ve already told him about your skin)._

_I hope you’re doing well, and that you’ve looked up from your books long enough to hold a decent conversation or two. I hope to hear from you soon._

_Love,_

_Nessa_

Elphaba sighed and pushed the letter away. She didn’t want to go back to Munchkinland. She didn’t want to visit the Colwen Grounds, and she certainly didn’t want anything to do with the Eminent Thropp. But how could she tell that to her sister?

Biting her lip, she reached for paper and a pen and began writing. She decided to write the easy part first.

_Dear Nessa,_

_Things are picking up here at Shiz as finals draw nearer. But even though classes are getting tougher, I’ve managed to find time to spend with a few people, my roommate—Miss Glinda Upland—included. We’ve been getting along quite well these last few weeks, and I do hope you get the chance to meet her someday._

Why had she written that? Elphaba shook her head, but it wasn’t worth crossing out. After all, it wasn’t untrue. Still baffled, the green girl put her pen back to the paper.

_As for Lurlinemas break, I wasn’t really planning on coming home. While it would be a wonderful opportunity to visit the Colwen Grounds, there are a lot of things I could get done if I spent the month at Shiz—including a couple of independent research projects I’ve been working on._

Elphaba looked down at the paper. There. That didn’t sound too suspicious.

_I apologize if this inconveniences anyone; I know I should have written and told you earlier. But these studies are important to me, and this is my only chance to continue them without the distraction of the rest of the university._

_All my love,_

_Elphaba_

As she folded the letter and put it in an envelope, Elphaba knew that nothing she said would really matter. If her father and Nessa really wanted her home, she wouldn’t have a choice.

She desperately hoped they weren’t dead set on her coming home.


	28. Chapter 28

Glinda was near tears by the time Elphaba came into the room.

It was a Sunday afternoon, and she had put off this paper for an entire weekend. She was buried in open books and pages of notes. Her hair was pulled back in a messy bun, but strands were falling in her face, adding on to her rapidly growing frustration. She exhaled heavily, squeezing her pencil so hard her hand shook. Nothing she wrote made sense. She understood the concept, and what she wanted to say in the paper, but she couldn’t put any of it into words. She couldn’t get it from her head to the parchment and it frustrated her to no end.

Her roommate stepped into the room with a cheery, “Hello, Glinda.”

The blonde bit back a growl. Elphaba’s every movement—her bag hitting the ground, pulling her books out and setting them on the desk, the springs of her bed as she sat down—grated on her ears. Elphaba, of course, had finished this paper on Friday. Elphaba knew how to put this into words. Elphaba could curl up with a book and not have a care in the world.

Glinda grit her teeth and looked back at her paper. Behind her, she could hear the rustle of pages as Elphaba read. She sucked in a trembling breath. _Focus._

_The significance of the speeches of early unionist fathers…impacted Ozian literature…politics or religion…_

Glinda groaned and slammed her pencil down. “I can’t do it!”

The green girl looked shocked. “Can’t do what?”

“This stupid paper!”

Elphaba stood up. “Hey, it’s okay. Just—”

“Shut up, Elphie! It is _not_ okay!” Glinda buried her face in her hands. “I need to raise my grade in literature, and if I don’t do well on this paper…but how do you put things into _words?!_ What am I supposed to say about these speeches? All of these thoughts are swirling through my head and I don’t know how to _say them!_ ”

The green girl walked over and put a tentative hand on her shoulder. “Okay, first: take a deep breath.” She waited until Glinda raised her head and obeyed. “Good. Now, look at me. What are you writing about?”

“You _know_ what I’m writing about,” the blonde snapped, exasperated. “It’s the literature paper. _You_ finished it just a couple days ago.”

“No, I mean, what are you trying to say?” She grabbed Glinda’s hands and looked at her patiently. “Tell me.”

Glinda looked back at her paper, but Elphaba shook her head and tugged her wrists gently, drawing her attention away from the desk. “Glinda, look at me. Just talk to me.”

The blonde took a deep breath. “These early unionist preachers. They wrote down their speeches and distributed them throughout Oz, and as a result we have a record of some of the teachings from back then.”

Elphaba nodded encouragingly, squeezing the blonde’s hands gently. “Go on.”

“Well, these speeches were among the first religious teachings to be recorded, and it spurred a movement of religious texts. But then, how can one differentiate between religious texts and regular legends?” Glinda’s eyes unfocused as she grew more confident, and her thoughts started coming faster. “What was real and what was fiction? What if something was written as a joke and published as a fact? The speculation that followed led to controversy over figures such as the Kumbric Witch—another religion, or just a children’s story?

“And the other question that must be addressed is _how_ the speeches were distributed. Because obviously it took time and money to copy and distribute them. So were they sold to the people? Because that would be business, which is commonly seen as a corruption in the unionist religion. And if they did sell them, did they take into account the difference between royals and commoners? If not, and the speeches were only available to the wealthy, then that’s even more corruption, and the entire thing reeks more of politics than religion.”

Glinda paused, looking up to see Elphaba beaming— _beaming_ at her. Her eyes were glowing, flecks of gold and hazel shining against the warm, chocolate color. “Brilliant. Why Miss Glinda, I believe you have a paper.”

The tension left Glinda’s shoulders, and she smiled shakily. She pulled a hand away and wiped at her eyes. “How do you do it, Elphie? Everyone else looks at me and only sees some dumb blonde.”

But the green girl simply shrugged and reached up to brush a stray tear from Glinda’s cheek. “Their loss.”

 

***

 

_Dear Elphaba,_

_I must admit, I am greatly surprised by your letter, for more reasons than one. It seems you’ve managed to find a friend or two. Even Grandfather seemed to be impressed when I mentioned the name Upland. I suppose it’s good that you and Miss Glinda are getting along well—we wouldn’t want the Thropp name to be spoken bitterly among the wealthy elite of Frottica and the Gillikin._

_But more pressing is your sudden impulse to stay at school over break. Really, Elphaba? You’d shut yourself away in an empty campus for an entire month? Wait—don’t bother answering that. I suppose it’s not completely surprising. However, Father is upset by your response. He hasn’t told Grandfather, and hopefully he won’t have to find out about your discourteous reply to his offer. Father has ordered you to come home. Besides, you know you can still do your work at the Colwen Grounds._

“Of course I can,” Elphaba muttered, “Right after I care for you all day and do every little thing Father asks of me. I’m sure that’ll leave me with _hours_ to spare.”

“Elphie?”

The green girl turned to see her roommate sitting up in bed. “Sorry, Glinda. Go back to sleep.”

Glinda looked at the light beginning to peek through their window. “It’s okay. I wanted to get up early, anyway.” She hopped out of bed and scurried over to her wardrobe. After digging through it for a moment, she snatched an outfit and ducked into the bathroom. Elphaba rolled her eyes with a smile and turned back to the letter on her desk.

_There is another reason why you must come home, but I can’t discuss it over a letter. Father has ordered me not to mention it completely, but I thought you deserved a heads up. Don’t worry, it’s nothing bad. In fact, I think you’ll like this turn of events._

_If you would kindly reply with the day you can move out, then Grandfather can hire the carriage to pick you up._

_Your sister,_

_Nessa_

Well, there it was. Once again, her desires were scoffed at, shoved to the side, in order to please her Father and Nessa. Agitated, she pulled her hair loose and started braiding it again, letting the familiar twisting motions soothe her. She could outright defy her father and just stay at the university, but she knew she wouldn’t. He would stop paying for her tuition, and then she wouldn’t be attending Shiz at all.

And what was this surprise they had? Despite Nessa’s attempts, she was still worried. If it was important enough to defy their father, then it must have been a big deal.

Glinda stepped out of the bathroom to see Elphaba leaning into her desk, fingers running anxiously through long ebony hair. “Elphie, is everything alright?”

The green girl looked up, a forced casual reply already on her lips, but she froze at the sight of her roommate. Glinda was wearing a royal blue dress, strapless and plain except for a black satin tie that went around her waist. A white lace cardigan was draped delicately across her shoulders and back, and her golden hair was curled and twisted into an elegant bun. She moved to her dresser and pulled out a pair of black, strappy heels.

Elphaba swallowed. “What’s the occasion?”

The blonde grinned, her entire face lighting up. “I get to turn in that literature paper today. I figured that deserved some celebration, don’t you think?” Before Elphaba could respond, her face grew serious again. “But you’re avoiding the question. What’s wrong?”

She folded up the letter. “Nothing. Just…plans for Lurlinemas break.”

Something in her voice made Glinda pause. “You wanted to stay here, right? Read a lot, do some research, probably move completely into the library while we’re gone.”

Green lips twitched. “Yeah. That was the plan.”

“What changed?”

“It’s just my father. And my sister. They want me home.”

Glinda couldn’t fathom not wanting to go home for break—a month without homework, without responsibility, doing nothing but spending time with her friends, her parents, and her Ama—but she refrained from saying so. Elphaba’s home was different.

“There’s no way you can stay here?”

“Not if they don’t want me to…” Elphaba shook her head. “You should probably get to class. Wouldn’t want to be late for turning in that paper.”

The blonde nodded, blinking distractedly. She didn’t think it was possible to override Elphaba’s will. The stubborn green thing took orders from no one, not caring a bit about anyone’s expectations. How was it that her family could just say the word and she lost all resolution?

“Are you sure?”

Elphaba rolled her eyes. “Everything’s fine, Glinda. Just go, don’t worry about it.”

“O-okay. If you say so, Elphie.” She grabbed her coat and bag and opened the door. “See you later!” she called, her giddy mood returning as she all but skipped out of the room.

 

***

 

“Alright class, have a good week. And don’t forget to put your papers on my desk before you leave.”

There was a groan and shuffle as the students pushed back their seats and rushed to get out of the classroom first. Glinda took her time, straightening her books in her bag and waiting for the crowd to thin. When it did, she placed her essay neatly on the professor’s desk with a proud smile. She had done it. It was over.

Glinda was beaming as she strolled out of the building. Not even the chill of the winter day could ruin her mood, and she basked in the bright sunlight as she neared the canal. She was careful to stay on the sidewalk; it had snowed last week, and the ground near the river was still muddy and covered in slush. The blonde wrinkled her nose slightly and kept walking.

“Well if it isn’t Miss _Ga_ linda.”

Glinda closed her eyes at the sound of Pfannee’s voice. She looked up again to see a group of students gathered on the sidewalk ahead of her, sneering.

“If you must insult me, Miss Pfannee, I insist that you at least use my proper name.”

“It could be worse,” Avaric said with a leer. “What about bitch? Or slut?”

Glinda crossed her arms over her chest. “The only sluts around here are the girls that hang all over you.” She noted, with an odd mix of guilt and satisfaction, that Pfannee’s cheeks had turned bright red.

“You’re acting more like the green freak every day,” Milla said. “You can’t just talk to us like that.”

“Leave me alone and I won’t have to,” Glinda replied smoothly. She tried to step past the group, but Pfannee’s hand on her shoulder stopped her.

“Not so fast, _Galinda._ ”

 

***

 

Elphaba groaned and crumbled up her third attempt at a friendly letter. It shouldn’t have been that difficult to write down a polite greeting and the date for the carriage, but somehow it was. She didn’t want to go home. She didn’t want to go back to the role of caretaker, nothing more.

She didn’t want to leave Glinda.

She pushed that thought away before she could really think about what it meant. She obviously wasn’t going to write this letter at the moment, and sitting here wasn’t doing her any good. Elphaba stood up, stretched, and decided to go to the café for a sandwich or an apple or something. She pulled on her worn coat and thick boots—remembering with a scowl that the ground was still muddy from last week’s snow—and headed out of Crage Hall.

 

***

 

Rough hands grabbed her shoulders from behind her, yanking off her coat.

Glinda whirled around to glare at Avaric, ignoring the cold that bit suddenly at her arms. “Give that back!”

“Hand made in the Pertha Hills?” Milla said, grabbing the tag and reading. “Must be expensive.”

“Oops.” Avaric tossed the coat off the concrete and into the mud with a smirk. “Hope it wasn’t _that_ expensive.”

Glinda clenched her fists and glared. She stepped forward, reaching for the coat, but Pfannee gripped her elbow, hard, and pushed her back.

“Leave me alone,” the blonde all but growled.

“Why? You’ve chosen social exile with the green bean, and now you have to pay the price.” Pfannee twisted her fingers into the lace cardigan and tugged, ripping the fabric.

Glinda spun out of her grip. “I haven’t done anything to you! _Leave me alone!_ ”

But Milla came up behind her and pulled the cardigan clean off. She tossed it to Shenshen, who hesitated only for a second before tearing the garment in two and throwing it in the mud.

“Stop it!” Glinda cried, lunging for her clothes once more, but Avaric’s arm around her waist pulled her back. Pfannee reached for the black sash around her dress, but Glinda swung wildly. There was a sharp _smack_ as her palm connected with Pfannee’s face.

Time stood still. Avaric’s grip left her, and Pfannee stumbled back, touching the quickly forming red mark on her cheek. Milla and Shenshen stood off to the side, eyes wide and hands cupped over their mouths. Out of the corner of her eye, Glinda thought she saw a familiar figure approaching the canal.

“ _Bitch!_ ” Pfannee screeched, jumping at Glinda. Her fingers dug into Glinda’s dress and hair, tearing at everything she could reach. The blonde stumbled back, trying to force Pfannee off of her. “You want your coat back?” Pfannee snarled. “ _Fine!”_ She shoved Glinda to the ground, causing the blonde to land in the muck.

Glinda froze, feeling the slime seeping through her clothes and across her bare limbs, but that didn’t stop them. With a terrible, delighted laugh, Avaric dug his foot into the mud and kicked it at her. Glinda flinched away as the girls cheered him on, spurring another round of filth.

“Hey!”

Glinda was covered in mud, her clothes were ruined, her hair had been tugged out of place, and tears were starting to spill down her cheeks. But at the sound of that voice, her heart soared.

“Well if it isn’t the green—”

“Pfannee, for once in your Oz-damned life, _shut up._ ” Elphaba stepped into view, dark eyes blazing so bright they were almost gold. Everything about her was fierce, from the set of her jaw to the crackling energy around her.

“How dare you?” Milla demanded. “You can’t talk to us like that!”

“Too late,” Elphaba said shortly. She pushed through the group and walked toward Glinda.

“This doesn’t have anything to do with you,” Shenshen said with a glare.

“Quite the contrary,” the green girl replied. “You mess with Glinda, you mess with me. Now clear out before I really get angry.”

“What could you possibly do?” Avaric smirked. “You’re surrounded by water, my dear Miss Elphaba. We have the upper hand.” With that, he scooped up a handful of mud and threw it at her.

But Elphaba was ready. She raised her hand and—with a burst of energy so intense that Glinda could almost _see_ the air rippling—shot the slime back at him.

“What the—”

Elphaba swung her arm again, sending a wave of slush at the girls. “Get out of here. Now.”

Somehow, even above their shouts and squeals of horror, they heard her and fled. Elphaba immediately knelt next to Glinda.

“Are you okay?” she asked softly. Every last trace of anger had vanished, leaving only comfort and concern. She reached up and wiped some mud from the blonde’s cheek.

Ever so gently, she pulled them both to their feet. Glinda stepped away from her. “Don’t—you’ll burn.”

“Not much,” Elphaba responded, taking off her coat and wrapping it around the shivering blonde. She picked up Glinda’s ruined clothes and draped them over one arm, pulling the blonde close with the other. “Come on. Let’s get you back to the room.”

 

***

 

Fifteen minutes later, Glinda was washed up and in fresh clothes, wrapped in her blanket and cradling a steaming mug of tea. She watched through the doorway to the bathroom as Elphaba hung up the dirty clothes. Maybe she’d be able to fix them, like she did Elphaba’s frock.

Which reminded her.

“Elphie?”

“Yeah?”

“You did magic.”

The green girl paused, staring down at the counter. “Yeah.”

“Was it…did you mean to?”

Slowly, she shook her head. “It just sort of…happened. That’s how it always is.”

“Wait, so every time you used magic here in the room…?” Glinda’s voice was soft.

“An accident.” Elphaba moved back into the room and curled up in the corner of her bed. “I was just born with it. It came with the skin, I suppose.” She laughed shortly. “That’s part of why my father…” She trailed off, shaking her head again.

“He doesn’t like your magic?” Glinda asked, bewildered.

“He’s a minister, a unionist. Both he and my sister say magic is the practice of evil.”

Glinda remembered, vaguely, rumors at the beginning of the year about Elphaba’s younger sister. “Would you tell me about them?”

Elphaba looked surprised. “You want to know about my family?”

“Well…” Glinda hugged her tea closer. “The only things I’ve heard about them came from gossip and rumors. I’d like to know what they’re really like. And, more importantly, why you’re so reluctant to go home to them.”

The green girl sighed, looking away.

“Elphie, you know I wouldn’t tell anyone. I’m just honestly curious. And…I want you to know that you can tell me this—you can tell me anything.”

Elphaba rested her chin on her knees. “I know. I’m just…not used to that, I suppose.” She bit her lip uncertainly. “What do you want to know?”

“What’s your sister like?”

“Normal colored.”

Glinda rolled her eyes. “That’s not what I was asking.”

Another sigh. “I know. She’s…strict. Stubborn, although I suppose she gets that from me. She’s a devout unionist, like our father. She fancies herself to be important and holy, but I think part of it’s to make up for her legs. She was born disabled, you see. She can’t walk—she’s been in a wheelchair all her life.”

“Why?”

Elphaba shifted uncomfortably, curling up even tighter—if that was possible. “Because of me.”

“She was _born_ disabled because of you? That doesn’t even make sense.”

Elphaba rubbed her forehead angrily, but her voice sounded weary. “When my mother got pregnant again, they were worried that the baby would be…like me. So they went to all these doctors, tried every treatment that was offered—everything from drinking potions and chewing milkflowers to prayer circles and other intense religious rites. But none of it worked. Her pregnancy was terrible, and when it finally came time for Nessarose to be born…”

“She came out crippled.” Glinda stared in horror at her roommate, who sat avoiding her gaze.

“And it killed my mother. Father has never forgiven me, and neither has Nessa. Nor should they.”

“But that…that’s not your fault.”

“Why did you ask about this?” Elphaba asked suddenly, her voice sharp. “Why does it matter to you all of a sudden?”

Glinda shifted uncomfortably. “I don’t know. I’m worried—and before you get mad at me, that doesn’t mean I think you’re weak or incapable. It just means I don’t want you to go somewhere—I don’t know, harmful?—over Lurlinemas break.”

Elphaba’s face softened, but she spoke carefully, guarding her thoughts. “It’s not as bad as it sounds,” she said slowly.

The blonde set her tea down and walked over to Elphie’s bed, keeping her blanket hugged close. “So they’re unionists…but you’re interested in history and sciences. How does that work?”

At this the green girl smirked. “It starts quite a few arguments, actually. I don’t believe in God, Unnamed or otherwise. And even if one existed, it wouldn’t for me.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, how can someone without a soul have a god?” She said it so casually, Glinda had to take a moment to recover.

“You—you don’t think you have a soul?”

“Glinda, I’m _green_. I have magic powers that I have no control over, I killed my mother and crippled my sister, I—”

“Elphaba, how old were you when Nessarose was born?”

The green girl paused. “Two…maybe three?”

“You were barely old enough to talk! How can your father possibly say that it was your fault?!”

Elphaba shook her head. “It doesn’t matter. Besides,” she said quickly, trying to change the subject, “This winter might be different, since we’ll be staying with my grandfather at the Colwen Grounds.”

Glinda fell silent, thinking. She knew about the Colwen Grounds and the Eminent Thropp, of course, but Elphaba had never mentioned her family line. “Why don’t you ever talk about being a Thropp?”

“What do you mean?”

The blonde pulled her blanket tighter around her shoulders. “You’re, what? The Third Thropp Descending? And if your mother died…doesn’t that make you next in line after your grandfather dies?”

“Yes, so hopefully he doesn’t die anytime soon,” the green girl said with a scowl.

“You don’t want to rule Munchkinland?”

“Do you really think anyone would accept _me_ as their leader?”

Glinda was quiet for a moment. “What’s your grandfather like?”

“Who knows? I’ve never met him.”

“Oh.”

Elphaba shifted, moving to get up from the bed. “Well, if you’re done interrogating me about my life now, I—”

Glinda reached for her hand and gripped it tight, cutting her off. “Elphie.”

“What?” She avoided Glinda’s eyes, too afraid of what she might see in them.

And Glinda, who was thinking of a thousand things to say to Elphaba—words of comfort, apologies for how she used to make fun of her family life, more questions about her childhood—could only settle on one thing. “I…never thanked you. For earlier.”

Elphaba rubbed the back of her neck with her free hand. “Yeah, well. Any excuse to throw mud at those idiots.”

The blonde smiled gently and let go of her hand. “Thank you, Elphie.” The green girl blushed deeply.


	29. Chapter 29

A week before finals began, Glinda found herself once again hovering outside the café, trying to build up the courage to step inside. Once again, Fiyero was waiting for her inside and, once again, she was terrified.

_“Miss Glinda?”_

_Glinda turned around at the sound of her name. Fiyero was there, his face impassive._

_“M-master Fiyero.” She had been avoiding most of her peers after the incident by the canal, but she couldn’t get away from them during classes. There was nothing she could do to prevent him from stopping her in the hallway after mathematics._

_But there was nothing malicious in his expression. He shifted his weight a little, looking over the top of her head. “I was wondering if…and I understand if you’re hesitant…but would you meet me for lunch sometime?”_

It wasn’t in Glinda’s nature to decline and so, however nervously, she agreed to have lunch with Fiyero. And now here she was.

She longed to be back in her dorm room, safe and quiet, studying in the bed across from Elphaba. But even the green girl, however suspicious she was of Fiyero’s offer, had encouraged her to go.

“I’ll be right here when you get back,” she had said. “And if he tries anything, I’ll hunt him down and rip off his tiny Winkie—”

“Elphie!” Glinda had blushed pink, but she couldn’t help but giggle at Elphaba’s smirk. Thinking of her roommate steadied her, and Glinda stepped forward determinedly.

Something told her, as she found Fiyero fidgeting in a back corner table, that the prince wasn’t trying to hurt her. It also hadn’t gone unnoticed that he was not involved in the incident by the canal—not that that automatically made him innocent, of course.

“Glinda!” he said, catching sight of her. She gave him a tiny smile in response. “How long do you have?” he asked as she sat down across from him.

“I don’t have class for a few hours,” she answered.

“That’s good.”

The next few minutes passed in a terrible awkwardness. They avoided each other’s gaze, fiddling with their napkins, glasses, silverware. Glinda crossed and uncrossed her ankles, and she could feel Fiyero’s leg bouncing up and down rapidly on the other side of the table. They talked in short spurts about classes, about finals, about the weather, but the spaces between their conversations weighed down on them, making it hard to breathe.

But eventually they both worked up enough courage to address what they were both speaking about. Glinda asked, “Why did you ask me here?” at the same time that Fiyero blurted out, “I wanted to apologize.”

They stared. Glinda was sure that if Fiyero’s skin could have darkened even more, it would have. She felt, with a cool, prickling sensation at the back of her neck, walls starting to form around her.

“For what?” she asked, forcing her voice to stay even.

“Everything,” he said.

Galinda would have welcomed him back instantly, without question. But Glinda simply raised an eyebrow. She refused to just jump back into his arms. She refused to welcome him back and let him hurt her that easily again. She was done living for what others thought of her. Now she just wanted to take care of herself. As she waited silently for him to elaborate, she felt a bit like Elphaba. It was empowering.

The Vinkan cleared his throat. “I wanted to apologize for…Oz, Glinda, I was such a jerk. A coward, too. I was shallow, in more ways than one. I went with what everyone else was saying about you and about the green—I mean…Elphaba—because I was too afraid to speak up.”

Glinda softened. “You’re not the only one, Fiyero.”

He looked up at her. “Maybe not. But I’m still sorry. I’m sorry for my behavior when we ate dinner together. I don’t…I wasn’t thinking straight. And I’m sorry for not speaking up or going after you that Saturday when we all went to town. Again, I was too afraid. I just…I’m sorry.”

His words hung in the air for a moment as Glinda studied him. But after that moment, she smiled. “Apology accepted, Master Fiyero.”

He smiled back, but it quickly faded. “I, uh, also wanted to say. About the other day, by the canal…”

“Don’t.” Her voice was firm, but not entirely unkind. “It happened, and there’s nothing to do about it now. So just don’t.”

Fiyero nodded. “You said, the last time we ate together, that you would have us still be friends. I would too, if the offer still stands.”

Glinda smiled at the look on his face: hopeful, sincere. Like the prince she’d always wanted, would still want, in another life. But maybe, just maybe, he didn’t have to be a prince. Maybe he could be just Fiyero, and she could be just Glinda. Maybe, just maybe, she didn’t have to lose everyone.

“Of course the offer still stands,” she said, giggling at the relief that crossed his face. “I would be honored if we could be friends.”

And for the rest of the meal, that’s what they were.

 

***

 

A silence seemed to fall over campus as the week went on. Students buried themselves in various nooks and crannies of Shiz: empty classrooms, café tables, their dorm rooms. The library, which had been frequented solely by Elphaba for most of the semester, was now full from the time it opened until they kicked everyone out.

Of course, by now the green girl was an expert at hiding in some abandoned corner of the library until the workers had all left for the night. Every night that week she crept quietly into the room, hours after Glinda had fallen asleep, eyes sore from reading and her body trembling from a mix of cold and exhaustion.

The blonde would scold her in the mornings before offering her a warm bowl of oatmeal that she had brought up from breakfast. “This isn’t healthy, Elphaba. Besides, one of these days you’ll get caught.”

“Hypocrite,” Elphaba would respond, teasing. “How many times have you snuck into the sorcery building after hours?” She’d usually get a huff and a half-smile in return.

But as the weekend—and therefore the first exam on Monday—crept closer, Glinda grew more and more tired of the suffocating feeling that had invaded their lives.

“I’ve just had the most wonderful idea,” she announced one afternoon, as they sat in the nearly empty history room before class. Boq and Fiyero looked at her, waiting, while Crope smacked Tibbett lightly to get his attention. Elphaba didn’t even look up from the physics book she was studying. “I’ve decided that we’re all going to hang out Saturday.”

“Glinda, finals start _Monday_ ,” Elphaba said firmly. “We can’t waste a day of studying like that.”

“Says the smartest girl at Shiz,” said Boq, rolling his eyes.

Tibbett put his hand to his forehead. “Whatever shall we do? If Miss Elphaba is stressed about her tests, how in Oz will the rest of us feeble-minded creatures manage?”

“I don’t know,” Crope mused. “Perhaps we could drop out and go straight into the workforce—I hear the Philosophy Club pays its workers well.”

“ _Anyway,_ ” Glinda went on before he could say anything more. “It’s not wasteful. In fact, Miss Smartest Girl at Shiz, it’s been proven that studying is more effective when you take breaks. If you overwork yourself, then you won’t do as well on the exams.”

Tibbett clapped his hands together. “Sounds good enough for me. We’ll bring the food, you girls bring the drinks and the fire, and we’ll have a merry time roaming about our lovely dead campus.”

“I still think this is a bad idea,” Elphaba said. She had yet to look up from her book. Scowling, Glinda reached over and snatched it from her hands. “Hey!”

“Miss Elphaba, as your highly qualified roommate, I hereby diagnose your pre-finals week habits—for example: barely eating—”

“—I’m eating just fine!”

“—never sleeping—”

“—I’m only getting a couple hours less than normal—”

“—and breaking campus rules—”

“—seriously, no different than usual—”

“—to be completely unhealthy—”

“—I’ll be fine once finals week is over!”

“—and I prescribe one full day of rest and relaxation this weekend. Saturday, to be specific.” The blonde girl crossed her arms over her chest and gave her a smug smile.

The guys burst into laughter. “Doctor’s orders, Elphie,” Boq said. “You can’t go against that.”

“I sure as hell can,” Elphaba nearly growled.

Glinda pouted, hugging the stolen textbook to her chest. “Please, Elphie?”

The green girl grumbled, but one look at her roommate and she knew she had lost. “Fine.” Glinda squealed in triumph, and Elphaba held out her hand impatiently. “Now can I have my book back?”

 

***

 

To Glinda’s credit, she left Elphaba alone for the rest of the week, focusing instead on studying. And whenever she wasn’t buried in notes or dusty old textbooks, she was holed up in an empty sorcery classroom.

In fact, the girls were both so busy all week that, by the time Elphaba crawled into bed on Friday night, she found herself looking forward to the next morning—a fact she would never admit to the blonde.

Glinda, on the other hand, didn’t hide her excitement. She practically bounced out of bed on Saturday, pouting when she saw that her roommate was still asleep.

“Elphie, wake up!”

The green girl mumbled something and rolled over so that she was facing away from Glinda.

“Come on, Elphie! It’s Saturday!”

“It’s not Saturday until I get up,” came the drowsy reply.

“Elphieeee.”

Instead of responding, Elphaba pulled the blanket over her head. The blonde huffed, not at all appreciating being ignored, but then she thought of something.

“Elphaba?” she asked, all too sweetly.

“Mm?”

Glinda leapt onto her roommate’s bed, landing on her hands and knees. “Wake up!”

Elphaba yelped and shot up, knocking the blonde off balance. The girls ended up in a tangled mess of arms and legs, Glinda giggling uncontrollably on top of Elphaba, who was fighting hard to keep the scowl on her face.

“Good morning,” the blonde sing-songed.

“Was that really necessary?”

“Yep!” Grinning mischievously, Glinda climbed off of her roommate and skipped over to her wardrobe. “Come on! We’re meeting the boys in an hour, and we can’t be late!”

She pulled out her favorite baggy sweater and a pair of thick tights and disappeared into the bathroom. Elphaba watched her go, vaguely missing the feeling of the blonde’s giggling weight on top of her. She blushed furiously and pressed a cool hand to the back of her neck. Once again, she thought about the upcoming winter break, and how strange it would be not seeing Glinda for an entire month.

Shaking her head, Elphaba got out of bed and moved over to her wardrobe. She pulled out a purple sweater and slim black pants and changed quickly. She was pulling a brush through her hair when Glinda came out of the bathroom.

The blonde paused when she caught sight of her roommate. She leaned against the doorframe and studied her for a moment. To her great surprise—and even greater delight—the green girl was wearing something other than black. In fact, the deep, vibrant purple complemented her skin gorgeously. Glinda watched, hypnotized, as the hairbrush pulled through silky dark locks.

“Elphie?”

“Yes?”

Glinda hesitated, although she wasn’t sure why she was suddenly so nervous. “Can…may I do something with your hair today?”

The green girl paused, lowering her brush. She turned and raised an eyebrow at Glinda. “Seriously?”

Glinda walked up behind her and twisted a strand of hair between her fingers. “Well, it’s so soft and gorgeous, but all you ever do is put it back in a simple braid.”

“That’s what I like.”

“Can I just try something?”

Elphaba closed her eyes. She could feel the gentle tugging of her hair between Glinda’s fingers, tickling her scalp—and in all honesty, it felt amazing. But the idea of _asking_ someone else to touch her, even someone as gentle as Glinda, was terrifying. Just standing this close to her was making the green girl’s heart pound.

But for some reason when she turned and looked at her roommate—just like when she had agreed to hang out with everyone today—Elphaba couldn’t say no.

She seriously hoped this wasn’t becoming a regular occurrence.

“Oh, alright.”

“Yay!” Glinda snatched the hairbrush and led Elphaba over to the bed. The green girl closed her eyes as her roommate started brushing through her hair. Every touch, every stroke was gentle—tender, almost. It made her shiver.

Glinda made sure to be completely conscious of her roommate’s reactions. Every unexpected touch made the green girl go rigid, and it took a while for her to relax again. The blonde thought of all the times they had argued, and how Elphaba would flinch when Glinda stepped too close. Her chest tightened painfully.

She didn’t want to freak Elphie out, so she stuck to a braid. But instead of simply twisting the hair together at the base of her head, she started at the top, weaving the strands in as she went. When Glinda finally sat back and admired her work, she couldn’t help but smile. The silky ebony wove in and out, tucked in and going over, the light catching certain pieces and making it shine. _Beautiful,_ she thought, but she didn’t dare say it out loud.

“Are you done yet?” Elphaba asked. She was going for irritable, but her voice came out as hardly more than a whisper.

Glinda rubbed her shoulders, smiling even wider when they relaxed beneath her fingers. “Are you that anxious to go?”

“Um…” Elphaba tried desperately to come up with something clever to say in return, but she was too distracted by Glinda’s gentle touch. The blonde giggled a little and hopped off the bed.

“Come on, Elphie. We still need to get the drinks before we meet them.” She paused, looking at her roommate. “I really like that sweater, by the way. It suits you.”

Elphaba bent over to grab her boots, ducking her head so that Glinda couldn’t see her cheeks darkening.

 

***

 

They met the others by the Suicide Canal, Glinda clutching a jar of her pink flames and Elphaba carrying a thermos full of hot chocolate. Fiyero and Boq were each holding a thick blanket. Crope was swinging a picnic basket back and forth, and Tibbett was entertaining them all by juggling apples.

“You’re going to go far in life, Master Tibbett,” Elphaba said as they approached.

“Jealous of my talent, Miss Elphaba?” he replied, barely looking over at her.

She snatched a fruit from midair, startling him into dropping the other two, and bit happily into it. “Not in the slightest. Shall we?”

They had the entire campus to themselves. Everyone else was holed up inside, avoiding the cold and burying themselves in their studies. The group decided to go to the far side of the lake, away from most of the buildings. They settled down in a grove of trees. The branches were bare, the sky was grey and dreary, and their breath rose in puffs whenever they spoke. But once they spread out the blankets and Glinda opened her jar to let the fire grow, the spot was perfectly cozy.

Boq moved to open the basket, but Glinda sat up straight. “Wait! I want to try something.”

She leaned forward, brow furrowing. After a moment of concentration, the lid burst open, making them all jump. Slowly, one after another, wrapped sandwiches and apples and oranges floated out of the basket and landed gently on the blanket. The others erupted in applause, and the blonde sat back, grinning.

“Brilliant, Glinda,” Elphie said. “Just try not to make the sandwiches explode, alright?”

Glinda shot her a look. The green girl smirked and reached for one of the vegetarian sandwiches, only to have it tugged out of reach by some invisible force. She scowled as the guys cracked up laughing.

“Very funny, blondie.”

Glinda stuck her tongue out.

The day passed leisurely. They passed around sandwiches and fruits and took turns drinking hot chocolate, which Glinda had paid extra to have made with milk. There was storytelling and jokes. Crope and Tibbett did impressions and acted things out until everyone’s sides ached with laughter. Boq joined in, adding extra details or comments. Elphaba would provide her own witty remarks, usually accompanying them with a smirk or an eye roll. Glinda sat next to her, a single pinky hooked around the green one, alternating between giggling at everyone and chiding the green girl.

She had been a little worried about Fiyero. He stiffened whenever Crope or Tibbett addressed him, and a scowl crossed his face every time Elphaba spoke. But after about half an hour, he seemed to relax. He started laughing along with the guys and even chimed in with his own stories once in a while.

About halfway through the day, Fiyero scooted over to sit next to Glinda. Not much later, his hand started drifting toward the blonde’s. Elphaba pretended not to notice, although she was oddly relieved when Glinda didn’t react, either. Once in a while—far too often in Elphaba’s honest opinion—he would lean over and mutter side comments in Glinda’s ear. The blonde would cover her mouth to stifle her giggle, and Elphaba would wonder why her stomach was twisting itself into weird little knots.

They stayed in their little corner of campus, tucked away from their lessons and classmates and responsibilities, until around sunset, when Crope nudged Tibbett and pointed up.

“Snow!” Tibbett exclaimed, grinning at the flurries that were starting to drift down. “Excellent!”

“I hope it sticks,” Boq said. “Imagine a snowball fight after exams are done.”

The guys all made various noises of agreement, but Glinda had stood up, looking nearly panicked. She hurriedly began packing the food away.

“What’s the rush?” Fiyero asked, staring up at her.

“We’ve got to get back before it gets bad,” the blonde responded, agitated. The boys all looked confused, but Elphaba got to her feet.

“It’s fine, Glinda.”

“It most certainly is not!”

“Relax. It’s only a little snow.”

“You’ll burn!”

Elphaba rolled her eyes. “That’s why I’m leaving. But no one else has to go home yet.”

The blonde hesitated, looking between her roommate and the rest of her friends. Fiyero gave her a half-smile and patted the blanket where she had been sitting.

“I’m going back,” Glinda announced. She scooped up her jar of flames and grabbed Elphie’s hand, marching back toward campus. Without the fire, the temperature plummeted around them, and the guys all scrambled to pack up and follow after the girls.

The entire way back to Crage Hall—even after Fiyero and the others had caught up to them—Glinda kept hold of her roommate’s hand. And although the green girl didn’t quite know what the warm feeling in her chest was, she was quite sure it had nothing to do with the pink flames dancing in Glinda’s jar.


	30. Chapter 30

The next day, they were back to studying. Last minute nerves and panic set in, and more than once Glinda had to leave their dorm room and take a walk before she started crying. Elphaba wasn’t doing much better. By the time evening came around she was following Glinda out of the room, if only to give herself something to do that didn’t involve studying. The tension in the dorm was stifling, and it was with great relief that they left to walk to the café for dinner.

Glinda’s stomach was attempting some sort of gymnastics routine, and she couldn’t get the dates of early Ozian decrees out of her head long enough to focus on her plate.

“Eat something,” Elphaba urged. “You’ll feel better, you’ll sleep better tonight, and you’ll do better tomorrow.”

“You’re not eating,” the blonde mumbled.

Elphaba stabbed at a piece of salad of salad and ate it, keeping their gaze locked the entire time. Glinda rolled her eyes and copied her, swallowing a spoonful of soup. Still staring at her pointedly, Elphaba took another bite.

It became a game, matching each other bite for bite, communicating only through their locked eyes, making no noise—except for the stifled laughter whenever one of them missed their mouth and had to try again.

They went straight back to Crage Hall as soon as they were finished and quickly settled once more into their studies. But this time, Glinda’s heart wasn’t trying to beat right out of her chest. And when Elphaba insisted that they both try to get some sleep, her thoughts stopped racing as soon as she hit the pillow.

 

***

 

There was almost a sense of relief as the exams began at Shiz. Students began talking on the sidewalks and in the cafeterias again as the first test jitters faded away.

Glinda relaxed along with everyone else as she realized that she knew the material. _Thank Oz for Elphie,_ she would sometimes think, writing down whatever correct answer she remembered because of her roommate.

It took her a while to wind down after each exam. Every time she walked out of a classroom it was in a strange daze, with dates and names and equations and theories all spinning through her head.

This was the case as she hurried out of the literature building one afternoon, late in the week. While she was certain she had passed, she couldn’t stop mentally reciting bits and pieces of old unionist sermons. As she made her way back to Crage Hall, she marveled at how the teachings of a single religion could change so much over time. Glinda wasn’t an extremely devout person, but she still believed in some sort of deity, be it Lurline or the Unnamed God or some other force—perhaps they were all simply different translations of the same being. She had never heard of anyone not partaking in some sort of religion. That is, until she met a certain green girl.

She reached her dorm room and slipped inside to find that it was empty, save for a couple half-packed suitcases on Elphaba’s side of the room.

Soulless. Glinda shuddered at the thought of whatever childhood Elphaba had endured to make her believe she didn’t have a _soul_.

“It just doesn’t make sense,” she said out loud.

“What doesn’t make sense?”

Glinda spun around as Elphaba stepped into the room. She grinned at the surprise on the blonde’s face. “Hi. How was your literature exam?”

“Good,” Glinda replied. She shifted her weight. “But I was thinking…Elphie, how can you not believe you have a soul?”

“You’re still hung up on that?” The green girl slid the bag off her shoulder and fell onto her bed. She stared at the ceiling, a mask of boredom on her face, but Glinda could see the walls starting to come up.

“Please, Elphie,” she said. “I’m just honestly curious. You seem to think that everyone else has a soul—despite the fact that you don’t believe in a god—so why not you?”

She shrugged, but then sighed. “You’re not letting this go without discussing it, are you?”

“Nope.”

“Fine.” She waved a single green hand. “Why not me, you ask? I’ve already told you.”

Glinda sat on the bed next to her and started playing with her hair absentmindedly. “Those reasons weren’t good enough. Your mother and your sister—that wasn’t your fault at all. And even if it was, there’s nothing in the unionist religion, or any religion for that matter, that says sinners don’t have souls.”

“Ah, but to have committed such a heinous sin from such a young age—that’s different.”

“I don’t think so,” Glinda replied, her voice thoughtful. “But what else was there? Your magic—again, while religion frowns upon magic, it says nothing about the magic users themselves, does it? Does it say that I don’t have a soul, as well?”

“No.” Elphaba reached up and grabbed her hand. “That could never be true. If someone like you doesn’t have a soul, then there’s no hope for anyone.”

Both girls blushed at the sudden intensity of her voice. Elphie let go of her hand as quickly as she had grabbed it. After a moment, Glinda resumed her work on the ebony hair.

“O-okay then. So that ruins the magic point. And the only other reason you had was that you were green. But that doesn’t even make sense. How could your skin color—a superficial, exterior trait—affect your soul, or, if you insist, the lack thereof?”

Elphaba screwed her eyes shut and pinched the bridge of her nose. “Did you know I’ve been asked if I was an Animal before?”

“Elphie, that’s…”

“What if I was? Not an Animal, necessarily, but not human, either. What if I am a freak, some sort of ugly, bizarre—”

“Elphaba, your skin is a different color. That doesn’t make you a different species!”

“How do you know?”

“The Vinkans are all darker skinned, but they’re still human.”

“Yes, but their skin is still a natural color. And it’s not like there’s an entire nation of green people somewhere!”

“You don’t know that.”

Elphaba let out a laugh. “Fine. But that still doesn’t prove I havea soul.”

“Well, what would you say _does_ prove that? What does it take to have a soul?”

The green girl opened her eyes and raised a brow. “I don’t know, Glinda. This is your interest, not mine.”

Glinda pouted. “You’re not at all interested in whether or not you have a soul?”

“No. But I’m a little interested in what you come up with.”

The blonde rolled her eyes. “Alright. Let’s see…sentient thought, emotions. Those are important to a soul, don’t you think? And you obviously have that.” Her fingers scratched gently at Elphaba’s scalp. “Dreams and aspirations—everyone knows you’ve got those. Memories, fears, relationships…”

“Now hold on,” Elphaba interrupted. “These are completely baseless. How do you know _these_ are the qualities that make up a soul?”

Glinda huffed. “Fine. I’ll start over. And since you seem to think I am the prime example of someone with a soul, we’ll use that. _If_ you don’t have a soul, then tell me, what do I have that you don’t?”

“Your goodness.”

It was nothing more than an exhale, two words that Glinda was not meant to hear at all, but she did. For a long moment the girls just stared at each other, Elphaba’s confession hovering in the air between them.

“Elphie,” Glinda said softly, “Elphaba, no. Why in Oz would you say that?” When the green girl didn’t answer, Glinda swallowed hard and tried to find the right words. “I’m not as good a person as you think I am. But more importantly, _you_ are not nearly as wicked as anyone—including yourself—believes you are.”

“Prove it,” Elphaba whispered, eyes screwing shut.

“I can’t.”

The answer shocked both of them, and Elphaba looked up again. Glinda smiled sadly at her. “I can’t prove it, Elphaba, because the only reason I know is by looking at you. I look at you—when you’re smiling or laughing, when you’re deep in some new research, when you’re thinking of someone you care about, like Dr. Dillamond or Boq or your sister or…or me… I look at you, and I’ve never seen anything _less_ wicked in my entire life. But no matter what I do, I can’t force you to see yourself through my eyes.”

Glinda had no idea where the words were coming from, but she knew with all her heart that they were true. She leaned down and kissed Elphaba’s forehead, then stood without another word and grabbed her sorcery book from her desk.

“I…need to go practice for tomorrow,” Glinda said. She offered Elphaba a smile and, once it was returned, slipped quickly out of the room.

She leaned heavily on the wall as soon as the door closed behind her. Her heart was fluttering and her face felt like it was on fire. Shaking herself off, the blonde darted out of Crage Hall and headed for the sorcery building, trying and failing to turn her thoughts away from the emerald girl still sitting in her room.

 

***

 

“Good afternoon, class.” Madame Morrible strolled into the room, looking as ghastly as ever with her stiff, over-sized gown and thickly powdered hair and face. Her lip curled as she took in her students standing awkwardly in the middle of the room. “Now, from what I’ve seen of your written exams, most of you have done well. However, I doubt that will be the case with your practical tests. Let us begin. Miss Ravyn?”

A short girl with choppy black hair followed Morrible into a side room. The headmistress closed the door behind her, eyes glinting dangerously.

Glinda moved to a corner of the room and sat down, focusing on her breathing. One by one, Morrible called students into the side room to perform spells and incantations. Each one exited in a quiet daze, usually pale and shaking.

She was the last one left when Morrible called out, “Miss Glinda.”

The blonde rose to her feet. Her heart, which had been pounding furiously against her rib cage, seemed to vanish altogether. She could feel her palms tingling as magic bubbled nervously inside of her, and she rubbed her hands against the skirt of her dress. The sound of her heels clipping against the tile floor echoed far louder than normal.

The door creaked as Morrible closed it behind her.

“Glinda, my dear. How are you feeling today?”

She swallowed hard. “I’m fine, Madame. And you?”

Morrible’s lips pursed as she studied her. “Excellent. Let’s get to work, shall we? First I want you to…”

She watched intently, stone-faced and pen scribbling across a clipboard, as the blonde performed every spell she was given. First it was simple things: picking a lock, spinning a top, lifting a light book, organizing a stack of papers. Next came throwing a desk, then changing the color of an object. Morrible had Glinda polish silver plates, dry towels, take the gears out of a clock, burn a fake body then heal it once more, over and over again, spell after spell after spell, until Glinda was breathing hard and wiping sweat from her brow.

Finally, the headmistress set her papers down. She peered at Glinda, but the blonde couldn’t make anything out of her expression.

“Well done, Miss Glinda,” she said slowly. “It would appear that I was wrong about you. I did not expect you to make it through the semester, yet here you are with the best marks in the class.” She looked the blonde up and down critically. “I hope you continue to rise above expectations.”

“Thank you, Madame Morrible,” Glinda said, struggling to keep her expression blank. It was over. She had passed—and at the top of the class, no less—and now all of her exams were finished. All she wanted now was to run back to Crage Hall and celebrate with Elphaba. “I better—”

“Now hold on, dearie,” Morrible said, her voice sickeningly sweet. She grabbed Glinda’s elbow with an overly manicured hand. “I was hoping we could talk for a little bit. I have an offer for you, actually.” With a wave of her other hand, two chairs appeared out of thin air and landed gently on the ground. Morrible let go of Glinda and gestured for her to sit.

“A-an offer?” Glinda asked.

“Yes. You see, there are always students struggling in the lower sorcery classes, and I’ve been looking for an assistant—a tutor, if you will. I thought, since you could relate to their…lack of ability…then you would be the perfect person to help.”

Glinda felt the back of her neck burning, but keeping her temper in check was something she knew how to do. Besides, all snide remarks aside, this was a great opportunity for her. The only thing was…

_Morrible’s involved. I don’t know what she did, or why, but I know she’s involved._ The blonde hesitated, remembering Elphaba’s words on that long ago day, when Dr. Dillamond had left.

Morrible had never talked to her like this—like she was capable of something—until now. Sure, it was pompous and insulting, but there was a hint of respect nonetheless. But where had it come from? Why here? And why now?

Something didn’t quite add up, and although she didn’t know what it was, Glinda knew it was screaming at her to run.

“I-I’m sorry, Madame,” Glinda said, as politely as she possibly could. “I’m still learning, as you know. I just don’t think I’m the right person to help teach others.”

Morrible pressed her lips together and studied her. “Perhaps you’re right. In that case, do you have any ideas as to whom else I could ask? What about your roommate? I hear she’s quite talented, and all the other teachers have nothing but praise for her.”

_How does she know Elphaba has magic?_ Glinda wondered. Her heart sank as she realized it was most likely her fault. _But wait…Elphie isn’t even in a sorcery class. Why does Morrible want...?_

“I doubt it,” the blonde said smoothly. “Miss Elphaba is focused mostly on history and life sciences. I can’t imagine her sacrificing too much time for other studies, and I don’t think she’s particularly interested in sorcery… But what about Miss Ravyn? She does pretty well, and I can really see her doing well as a tutor.”

Morrible narrowed her eyes. A long silence passed between them, and it took all of Glinda’s willpower not to fidget uneasily under the headmistress’s gaze. “…Very well,” she said finally. “You may go. I’m sure you have plenty to do before the carriages arrive tomorrow morning.”

“Thank you, Madame Morrible.” Glinda rose to her feet and turned to leave. It was all she could do not to sprint out of the building.

 


	31. Chapter 31

“It would seem that it pays to be less materialistic.”

Glinda paused in the middle of trying to wrestle her last suitcase shut and scowled up at the green girl. “Your commentary is _not_ helping, Elphaba.”

“No, but maybe this well.” She set aside her book and knelt down to help fasten the clasps. “Happy?”

The blonde nodded, a bit shyly. “Sorry I’m taking up the whole room,” she said.

Elphaba stood and looked around. It was true; while Elphaba’s two bags were stacked neatly at the foot of her bed, the blonde’s seemingly endless luggage was scattered throughout the entire place.

“It’s nothing more than the usual,” she said dryly. She let out a cackle as her roommate huffed and pouted.

At the sound of the green girl’s laughter, Glinda couldn’t help but smile. For a moment she just sat there, marveling at how far they’d come since the beginning of the year. Had it really been an entire semester ago that they met? Was their first year of college really already halfway over?

“What is it?” Elphaba asked, watching the smile fade from her face. Glinda simply shook her head.

“N-nothing. Just thinking… When do you leave tomorrow?”

Elphaba’s eyes darkened. “Early. Nessa said the carriage would be here by seven at the latest.”

Another pout. “I’ll barely get to see you before you leave!”

“You’re seeing me now,” Elphaba replied, rolling her eyes.

“That doesn’t count!” Glinda wandered over to her bed and pulled the fluffy pink blanket back. “But I suppose you’re right. This is the last chance we have to hang out before break.”

“Oh Oz, you’re not going to make me do girly sleepover things, are you?”

“Well, now that you mention it…” Glinda giggled at the terror growing on her roommate’s face. “Kidding, Elphie!”

“Thank goodness,” the green girl sighed, collapsing onto her own bed. She turned her head to look at Glinda, a grin tugging at her lips. “When does your carriage arrive tomorrow?”

“The train leaves town at noon, so sometime before that.” The blonde waved her hand absentmindedly. “I don’t know _what_ I’ll do with all my time, since you’re leaving me so early.”

“You poor thing.”

“Indeed.” The girls grinned at each other.

“Are you excited to go home?” Elphaba asked.

Glinda stretched out on her back and stared up at the ceiling. “Yes. I miss my parents, and my Ama, and there are a few girls I’ve kept in touch with since leaving Frottica who I simply can’t wait to see. And then, of course, there’s Lurlinemas. My parents always host this elaborate party, and I get to be all dressed up—even more so than usual—and there’s music and dancing and so many lords and ladies…”

Elphaba watched her as she spoke, unsure of why she suddenly felt a bit empty. So what if Glinda didn’t miss her at all? She should be happy that the blonde would have such a good time.

“But after Lurlinemas, I suppose I’ll be bored to tears. There’s just not as much adventure in high society as there is at university. And there isn’t anyone nearly as entertaining as Crope or Tibbett.”

“And I suppose you’d be hard-pressed to find another green bean, too.”

Glinda turned her head to look at her, eyes dancing. “I wonder if any of them would believe me when I told them my best friend was green.” She giggled as Elphaba went from shock to feigning offense to laughing, all over the course of a couple seconds.

_Best friend._ Both girls quite enjoyed the sound of it.

“I never asked,” Elphaba said after a while. “How did your sorcery exam go?”

Glinda tensed, an action that did not go unnoticed by the green girl. “Alright, I suppose. She told me I received top marks.”

“Glinda, that’s wonderful!” Elphaba propped herself up on her elbows. “Why aren’t you excited?”

“I am,” the blonde said. “It’s just…well, I’m just thinking about some things Morrible said afterward.”

Now Elphaba was really concerned. It wasn’t like her roommate to look so uneasy. “Like what? What did she say?”

The last thing Glinda wanted to do was talk about it—she was still trying not to shudder at the thought of Morrible’s eyes boring into her—but Elphaba had a right to know.

“She offered me a job next semester, as her assistant. She wanted me to tutor some students in the lower sorcery classes.”

Elphaba froze. Her eyes searched the blonde’s face, but she didn’t say anything. Glinda went on.

“She asked about you as well, if you would do it.”

“She _what?_ ” The green girl jumped up and began walking around the room, agitated. “That’s absurd! I would never—she has to know I wouldn’t—what in Oz is she thinking?!”

Glinda sat up, watching her roommate with concern. “Elphie, calm down. I—”

“Calm down? Are you crazy?” Elphaba stopped pacing to glare at her. “Morrible cleared out Dillamond’s office when he left, she _knows_ his research went missing. But she already got rid of him, what more does she want? That old hag is up to something, I know it. She’s trying to get closer, learn more. She—”

“I _know_ , Elphaba. That’s why I told her neither of us would do it.”

A beat of silence. The green girl’s eyes widened slightly. “You…did?”

Glinda rolled her eyes and crossed her arms over her chest. “Yes. I told her I wouldn’t be a good tutor, and you wanted to focus on history and life sciences. Then I suggested some other girl for the job. I’m not as dumb as you think, Elphie. I still remember why Dr. Dillamond had to leave.”

Elphaba winced a little, and her shoulders sagged. She moved over to her bed and sat down once again. “Sorry,” she said quietly, but Glinda shook her head.

“It’s alright.”

“I don’t think you’re stupid.”

The blonde sighed. “I know. I don’t know why I said that.”

“Because I treated you like you were.”

“You didn’t mean to.”

“Still.”

Glinda went over to the green girl’s bed and sat next to her. “We’re going to be okay, right Elphie? Whatever Morrible’s planning…we’ll get through it. Won’t we?”

Elphaba forced herself to meet shining blue eyes. This was why she kept Dr. Dillamond’s research a secret. This was why she had to keep going with his work. So that people like Morrible couldn’t hurt anyone else. Especially not Glinda.

“Yes,” she said finally. “We’ll be okay.”

The blonde smiled and moved to rest her head on Elphaba’s shoulder. “I’m going to miss you terribly, Elphie,” she said after a moment. _More than you could possibly know,_ she added silently.

Elphaba shifted to wrap an arm around her roommate. “I’ll miss you, too…my sweet.” _More than I’ll ever say._

They sat together for a while, drifting in and out of peaceful conversation, until Glinda said that Elphie needed to sleep. But even after they’d both climbed into their respective beds, they stayed awake, staring up at the ceiling and stealing glances across the room, each lost in their own thoughts of the upcoming break, and why the month apart suddenly seemed so dreadful.

 

***

 

Glinda woke with Elphaba the next morning. She watched quietly as the green girl put the last of her things together and pulled on her boots and coat. When she was ready, she turned and made one last sweep of the room, looking for anything she had forgotten.

Her bed was neatly made, although her mother’s green bottle was packed safely away. The wardrobe was hanging half-open, revealing completely empty shelves. While Glinda had enough clothes at home to leave some things here, Elphaba’s closet was far more limited. The only thing that looked as if it still belonged to someone was the desk. Although she had stuffed as many textbooks and journals into her bags as she could, there were still countless papers and notebooks lying out on her desk. None of it, however, had to do with Dillamond’s research. She had made sure to bring all of that with her.

Glinda opened the door for her and followed her out of Crage Hall. Very few of Shiz’s residents were up and about this early, especially when it was this cold.

“Are you sure you’ll be warm enough?” Glinda asked, eyeing her thin coat. The train she would be taking back to Frottica later today was heated. Elphaba’s carriage was not.

“The carriage will block out the wind,” the green girl said. Normally she would have been impatient with the concern, but the way Glinda was looking at her drove every negative thought away. She grinned toothily. “Besides, I have my books. You know I’ll be fine.”

The blonde smiled back. They stood out in the cold by the gates as the minutes dragged on. “You don’t have to wait out here. Go back inside and warm up,” Elphaba told her, but Glinda rolled her eyes.

“Don’t be ridiculous, Elphie. I came to see you off, and that’s what I’ll do.” She did, however, step closer to the green girl, pouting up at her until Elphaba gave in and wrapped a thin arm around her.

The cold disappeared immediately.

Before long, a dark, somewhat ornate carriage appeared down the road. The driver was unquestionably a Munchkin. Elphaba untangled herself from Glinda and picked up her bags as her ride approached.

“Miss Thropp,” the driver said, hopping down and bowing a little.

“Please, call me Elphaba,” she said. Glinda was sure only she heard the discomfort in the green girl’s voice.

The driver frowned a little as he studied Elphaba. “I’ll…just take your bags, then, Miss Elphaba.”

He grabbed her things and took them to the carriage, leaving the girls to say goodbye.

Glinda huffed. “That was rude. I thought everyone at the Colwen Grounds knew about your skin.”

“Just because they know doesn’t mean they like it,” Elphaba sighed. “It’s fine, Glinda. I’m used to it.” She turned to face the blonde, looking her straight in the eyes, and suddenly everything inside of her was begging her not to go.

Glinda saw the rich eyes darken, and her heart twisted. She didn’t want to let Elphaba go, not back to a place where she had no friends, no one to care about her. But there wasn’t anything she could do to stop it, either. So she did the only thing she could think of. She stood on her toes and pressed her lips to Elphaba’s cheek.

“I’ll miss you, Elphie. Have a wonderful break.”

She was rewarded by a small yet dazzling smile. “You too, Glinda.” Elphaba grabbed her hand and squeezed it before stepping up into the wagon. The driver clucked the reins and the horses started forward.

It wasn’t until the carriage had pulled away from Shiz’s front gates that Elphaba allowed herself to look back, her hand reaching subconsciously to touch the place where pink lips had brushed her skin.


	32. Chapter 32

Wanting to keep the image of Shiz and her roommate burned into her mind as long as possible, Elphaba spent the first few hours curled into a corner of the carriage, eyes shut and knees hugged to her chest. She knew she wouldn’t sleep, not around a stranger, but if she was still enough she could almost forget about the month that was ahead of her.

_There is another reason why you must come home,_ Nessa had said. _But I can’t discuss it over a letter._

Elphaba shifted the tiniest bit and nestled her forehead onto her knees. She had avoided thinking about it during exams at Shiz, but now all the pieces were coming back to her. Her father moving to the Colwen Grounds. Their grandfather stepping into their lives for the first time. A surprise that Nessa risked warning her about. Something wasn’t adding up quite right, and Elphaba was simultaneously terrified and dying to find out.

And what would the Eminent Thropp be like? She remembered, however vaguely, toddling after her mother, listening to her go on and on about whatever that day’s subject was. Melena would rant about her husband the faraway minister, or the strangeness of her daughter, or the Wizard gorging himself up in his palace. _Not that I care much for politics,_ she would say airily. _But at least whatever corruption we have in the Thropp line is known throughout Munchkinland._

And she would talk of her father, Elphaba’s grandfather. _A wiry old man, even when I was young. Like the willow trees. He sways and bends so much you’d think he’d fall over any day now. But he’s a damned stubborn fool._ She’d glance down at her daughter, not expecting the green girl to understand a single word. _Just like the rest of the family._

“We’ll be reaching the outskirts of the Emerald City soon,” came the voice of the driver, drawing Elphaba out of her reverie. “We’ll be stopping just inside Munchkinland’s border for you to switch carriages.” He cleared his throat and glanced back at her through the little window at the front of the carriage. “Your…father said you’d be fine without stopping for the night?”

Without opening her eyes, Elphaba mumbled a quiet affirmative.

The driver fell silent as they went on, not speaking again until they reached the Emerald City and turned off the main road. “Too much traffic to go through town,” he explained, though Elphaba had never asked. “Have you ever been to the Emerald City, Miss Elphaba?”

Despite herself, she opened her eyes and looked out the window. “No. I’ve seen it, but never from the inside.”

“A shame,” her driver said. There was something close to laughter in his voice. “It seems to me you’d fit in well there.”

Elphaba scowled but chose not to respond. Instead she gazed up at the tall, gleaming buildings of the city. It was a world of promise for most of Oz, but to her the emerald seemed darkened, shadowed. Somewhere in the sparkling, radiant palace was the Wizard, probably having lunch with some sort of important person, perhaps working on a new Animal ban.

She looked away and shut her eyes once more.

 

***

 

They stopped a couple hours after nightfall at a tiny station just off the Yellow Brick Road. A Munchkin was laying down on the driver’s bench of another carriage. He sat up as they approached, hopping to the ground and bowing low.

“The Third Thropp descending?” he asked.

Elphaba drew her coat around her, instinctively hiding as much skin as possible, and slipped out of the carriage.

The Munchkin made no reaction other than to take her bags from her and move to check the horses once last time.

Elphaba turned to her first driver and handed him a few coins, thanking him quietly. He blushed furiously. “Th-thank you, Miss…thank you, Elphaba. Safe travels.”

As he headed back to the original carriage, the second driver hopped into his own. “Are you ready, Miss?”

She climbed into the cab. “How far until we reach the Colwen Grounds?” she asked.

“A fair while,” was his answer. “But we’re well-rested here. We should have you there by mid-morning.”

The green girl nodded, settling into the same position she was earlier. This time, though, she stared out the window and gazed up at the night, watching the moon as it followed their path across Munchkinland.

 

***

 

The sun was hanging lazily in the sky as they neared their destination the next morning. Elphaba was sick by now of the dull farmlands and deteriorated yellow of the brick road, but she was more than curious about the Colwen Grounds.

A plump little Munchkin shook himself awake as the carriage approached the gates. “Morning, Viko,” he said after the driver tipped his hat. “You’re early, aren’t you?”

“A bit. Why? Are you not going to let us in until our scheduled time of arrival?” Elphaba could hear the smile in her driver’s voice.

“Now that would be entertaining,” the other Munchkin replied, hopping down from his post and moving over to the gate. After another moment, the iron gave a slight groan and pushed back. Viko shook his reins and urged the horses up the gravel path toward the castle.

Elphaba shifted in her seat to get a better view out the window. The first glimpse of the Grounds reminded her of Shiz, with the wrought iron gates wrapping all the way around and darkened ivy climbing up stone walls. Though it was nowhere near as grand as the Emerald City, it was still pretty impressive—Elphaba had to almost lean out the window to see the tops of the towers. The stone that made up the castle was a dark charcoal color, giving the place a shadowy, haunted feeling.

A figure stood on the front steps, looking stoically down the path at them. Elphaba leaned back out of sight and closed her eyes. A green hand reached frantically for the smaller of her two bags and clutched it to her chest. Cursing her sudden nerves, she steeled herself and opened her eyes once more. The man was looking at the carriage, but he couldn’t quite see in the window. Elphaba squinted a little, taking him in.

He was withered and wrinkled, as thin and fragile-looking as a sapling, yet he seemed planted on the stone steps. He was slender, with slim shoulders and long limbs, like Elphaba. _Except he’s taller,_ she noted with some surprise. He must have had several inches on her, in fact. Everything about the man seemed dark, and she couldn’t tell if it was from the castle’s shadow or years spent under Munchkinland’s hot sun.

Elphaba noted the rigid cut of his shoulders, the firm set of his lips, the way his hands folded neatly behind his back. It reminded her of the dignified posture Nessarose sat with, or the way she herself walked around campus with her chin high and shoulders set, or even of how her mother would talk, severe and unyielding despite the ever-present weariness with which she regarded life. Stern, stubborn, and stoic, it would seem, ran in the family.

“Your Eminence,” Viko said as the carriage came to a halt. Elphaba heard him jump down from the driver’s bench. She took a deep breath, grabbing her bags. The door opened beside her, but she waved away Viko’s offer to carry her bags and stepped out on her own.

Matching his expression perfectly, Elphaba looked up at her grandfather.

There was a long silence as they regarded each other for the first time. To his credit, the Eminent Thropp showed no signs of shock or revulsion at her skin tone. He stared calmly at her, eyes barely moving, and she got the vague feeling that she was being tested. But she stared back, trying to find a trace of the man’s thoughts on his face. To her surprise, there was nothing. Elphaba had always considered herself to be the closed book in the family—it was all too easy to tell when Nessarose was upset, and from what she could remember her mother had no filter whatsoever—but her grandfather was just as poker-faced as she was.

It wasn’t until Viko had climbed back into the carriage and started off to the stables that either of them moved. The Eminent Thropp cleared his throat and took a step down so they were on level ground. Without even realizing, Elphaba took a half-step back, keeping the same amount of distance between them.

“Your father has been up for a while now.” He gestured vaguely to his right. “He should be in the—”

“Where is Nessarose?” Elphaba asked, her voice even. He didn’t react to her tone, but instead turned slightly so she could see to the dark, ornately carved front doors behind him.

“Eating breakfast. Let me show you to the dining hall.”

Without another word, he led the way inside. They walked through the grand foyer and down a hall to the left. Elphaba let herself look around in wonder as they made their way through the halls. There were stain glass windows and hand-sewn tapestries woven with gold and silver. Some halls were lined with statues or pieces of armor and weaponry, while others held portraits of past rulers and officials. Delicate, glimmering chandeliers hung high above them and candles flickered in sconces on the walls. Every door they passed was made of a polished dark wood, and at least half of them held intricate silver knockers.

The room he led Elphaba to was smaller than she expected—it was barely larger than her dorm room. An oval table stood in the middle, surrounded by less than a dozen chairs. The green girl had a moment to think that this had to be a personal dining room, and a much larger hall for formal dinners and meetings was probably somewhere else in the castle, before a figure at the table captured her attention.

“Nessa.”

Elphaba had wondered what she would see on her sister’s face after months of being apart. But when Nessarose turned to her with her chin tilted up and a wry smile tugging at her lips, she didn’t know why she ever expected anything else.

“You’re thinner, Fabala. I thought people were supposed to gain weight when they went to university.”

“Perhaps I’ve joined a swim team to keep me fit,” the green girl replied just as dryly.

“Oh? You didn’t mention they had a pool full of oil at Shiz.”

“It’s a well-kept secret.”

“Like the rest of your college experience.” Nessa raised an eyebrow, another trait she had learned from her sister. “You’ve barely told me anything in your letters.”

“Perhaps my college life is simply that boring.”

“I doubt it. The life of a green girl is never boring.”

They held each other’s gaze for a moment, staring silently. Elphaba’s lips twitched first, and then the sisters were grinning at each other.

 

***

 

Elphaba saw no one but her sister for the rest of the morning. Their grandfather had quietly excused himself shortly after Elphaba arrived, taking her bags with him to put away in her room. “Nessa can show you where it is later,” he had said before gliding out of the dining hall.

Nessa had raised her eyebrows at Elphaba, waiting for the inevitable judgment that was sure to pass, but the green girl said nothing. She didn’t know what to think of the Eminent Thropp. Not yet, at least.

The sisters spent the next couple of hours wandering around the castle, Nessa directing them and prying about life at Shiz as Elphaba pushed her chair and dutifully answered.

“Are there many Munchkinlanders there?”

“A few. One boy, Master Boq, actually lived near us in Rush Margins.”

“Really? How do you know?”

“Supposedly he remembers playing with me as a child.”

“Supposedly? Is there any doubt to his memory? How many green children did he used to run around with?”

Elphaba made a noise in the back of her throat. “I’d like to think it’s my charming sense of humor that makes me so memorable.”

“Obviously. And what of the others? As prestigious as Shiz is, how many students had to buy their way in?

“A fair few,” Elphaba said with a smirk.

“ _And_ we’ve heard rumors of a Vinkan attending the university.”

“The Winkie prince? You’ve heard of him all the way out here?”

“ _Vinkan_ , Elphaba. Always use official terms in regards to others.” Nessa spoke as if reciting something memorized. She immediately pressed her lips together, blushing slightly. Elphaba tilted her head to the side, regarding her younger sister.

“…The Vinkan prince, then,” she said after a moment. “His name is Fiyero. He’s nice enough, I believe.” She tried not to sound resentful, although she didn’t know why she would be in the first place.

Nessa was already onto her next question. “What about your roommate? Miss Glinda Upland? Grandfather says the Uplands are highly respectable. Are you the two of you still getting along?”

Elphaba felt that increasingly familiar heat rise on the back of her neck. “We are,” she said. Not wanting to talk about her roommate anymore—there was a strange pang in her stomach at the thought of the blonde—she searched for a way out of the conversation. “Right or left?” she asked.

Nessa took the change of subject without complaint. “Right,” she answered. “I want you to see this hall.”

Elphaba steered them to the right and through an arching doorway. The ceiling rocketed up, revealing a balcony running along each side of the hallway. Portraits—large, ornately framed paintings that started at Elphaba’s waist and reached a couple feet above her—lined both walls, both on the first floor and on the balconies. Each was of a different man or woman, but they all shared some characteristics: thin lips, stern-set shoulders, arching eyebrows, prominent cheekbones. Under every painting was a gold placard with a name carved into it, and although the first names varied greatly, the surname was the same. _Thropp._

The girls fell silent as they passed their ancestors. Elphaba felt as if she were being watched, judged, condemned for walking through this hall. _A green descendant,_ she thought. _What would they think if they knew they had a green descendant?_

“I’ve looked,” Nessa said eventually. “But Mother’s portrait isn’t in here.”

“She never ruled Munchkinland.”

“No, but she was part of the family. Sometimes there are smaller pictures—like there.” She pointed at a row of little portraits. “Every Thropp who’s ever lived in the Colwen Grounds is here. At the very least, they have a name plate. But not her.”

Elphaba’s eyes darted up and down the hall. “She didn’t want to be. She never wanted to be a part of the Thropp line.” _At least we had that in common,_ she added silently.

“Why not?” It was more of a wondering than a question. Elphaba shrugged.

“How should I know? But that’s why she ran off with Father. She didn’t want to be a part of this, and she didn’t want _us_ to be a part of this.”

Nessa shifted a little in her chair. They’d reached the end of the portraits, where a single gold plate was on the wall. _Peerless Thropp._

“What do you think of him?” Nessa asked quietly.

“I’ve barely met him.”

“I think he’s a good man.”

“He seemed polite.”

“Father respects him.”

“That does nothing for his case. I rarely respect Father’s opinions on anything.”

“Have you seen him yet?”

“No.”

“Elphaba.”

“Nessarose.”

Nessa grabbed the wheels of her chair and rolled forward, turning herself to face Elphaba. “Don’t act like a child, Fabala. Not this time.”

“I see nothing childlike about my behavior. You asked me to come here for break, and I came. You tell me there’s some great secret reason why I have to be here, and I don’t ask for details. You want me to be respectful toward a grandfather who has never acknowledged our existence until now, and I will. I’m assuming next you’ll ask me to do my best not to get in a fight with Father while I’m here, but that’s exactly what I’m doing.”

“By avoiding him?” Nessa asked heatedly.

“ _Seeing_ him certainly isn’t going to help.”

“Don’t you think you’re being ungrateful? He’s your father.”

“Biologically, yes. You know I don’t have the same relationship with him that you do.”

“He’s paying for you to go to Shiz!”

Elphaba snorted. “Hardly. Most of my tuition is covered by scholarships.”

Nessa crossed her arms over her chest. “You’re going to have to talk to him eventually.”

“As if I don’t know that.”

The younger girl opened her mouth to respond, but then shook her head and pressed her lips together. “Arguing about this, _again_ , isn’t going to help anything. I can only pray that the spirit of Lurlinemas will keep you from picking any fights.”

Elphaba rolled her eyes. “You’re a follower of the Unnamed God. You don’t believe in Lurlinemas.”

“But the spirit of love and family is the same.” Nessa’s voice was harsh, a strange contradiction to her words.

The green girl pinched the bridge of her nose, sighing quietly. “I never intend to get into it with him, Nessa. You know that, don’t you?”

Nessa’s eyes narrowed and she looked away. “I’ll show you to your room now. Lunch will be soon, and I’m sure you want to change out of your travelling clothes.”

She wheeled herself away, not bothering to look back at her sister. Elphaba set her jaw and followed. Winter break was turning out to be just as she had expected.

 

***

 

Glinda had thought she would be bouncing in her seat the entire train ride home. Instead, she was curled into the corner, staring blankly out the window as if she could still see the campus that had faded into the horizon hours ago.

She had spent most of the morning at a café just outside the station, waiting for her train to arrive and ignoring the looks and whispers she received from the other students who were travelling to northern Gillikin. She saw Pfannee and Shenshen once, and it took most of her willpower not to dart from her table and hide in some nearby alleyway. But they caught sight of her before she could do anything. Shenshen simply frowned a little and turned away, but Pfannee’s gaze lingered. Glinda could read her cold eyes and slightly curled lips all too clearly. _Too bad the green bean’s not here,_ she seemed to say.

Glinda did her best to glare back. _I’m not afraid of you._

Apparently it was convincing enough, because Pfannee turned to follow Shenshen into the station and out of sight.

Glinda was suddenly tired of facing her classmates. It was officially winter break, and she’d had enough. She reached into her bag and pulled out an architecture book, running her palm delicately over the faded cover. It was old and worn; Elphaba had rescued it from a box of library books that were about to be thrown out. Glinda could still picture the faint blush in her roommate’s cheeks as she gave the book to her.

Shaking her head, the blonde found the page she’d last marked and read until her train arrived. When it came time to board, she settled down in a window seat near the back of the first class car. As soon as the train started forward, she’d curled up and stared longingly at Shiz fading away.

Glinda shifted a little in her seat, looking around the car and observing her fellow passengers. She remembered her trip to Shiz last summer, and how an old Tortoise couple had been sitting on one of the back benches of the first class car. But as she looked around now, she realized there were no Animals on the train, first class or otherwise. A semester ago, she wouldn’t have even noticed, let alone cared. Now, though…

She wished Elphie were there. She wondered where the green girl was now. Had she reached Munchkinland yet? Was the driver still being rude to her? Did she perhaps miss Glinda?

The blonde quickly pushed this last thought away. It was ridiculous. After all, they had seen each other just a few hours ago. Elphaba didn’t miss her yet, and even if she did, she couldn’t possibly miss her as much as Glinda did.

Glinda slumped against the window, resting her chin in her hand. Here she was, all alone in a half-empty first class train car. She was bored, and it was still a couple of hours until they reached Frottica, but she didn’t feel like reading again. So she focused her attention out the window once more. They had already gone through the station at Dixxi House and were just reaching the beginnings of the Pertha Hills. It was something she had grown up with, but she still couldn’t help but adore the roll and tilt of the ground before her, the rippling of knee-high grass and wildflowers. She remembered lying on the ground as a child, braiding flowers together to make a bracelet or a crown, or staring up and imagining nonsensical pictures in the clouds.

She realized with a jolt how ridiculous it all was. She’d grown up in a daydream; Elphaba had grown up in a nightmare.

_It’s not as bad as it sounds,_ Elphie had said, but Glinda wasn’t so sure. If her roommate knew the luxury that was Glinda’s life, would she be so accepting of her own? _It’s not fair,_ Glinda thought. _She of all people deserves more._

This aching for her roommate wasn’t helping, so Glinda tried to lose herself once again, this time focusing on the little hillside cottages that began dotting the landscape, signaling the outskirts of their next stop, Settica. The train moved too fast for her to catch more than a glimpse of them, but she knew what they looked like: small and round, only one or two rooms on the inside. Small families with little money lived there, content with their cozy homes and vegetable gardens. They weren’t anything close to the endless plantations of Munchkinland, but it was enough to be able to live independently. They provided only for themselves, unlike the Munchkin farmers who worked year-round…

And just like that, she was thinking of Munchkinland again. She had never been, but she had seen photos and paintings. What did Elphaba’s home look like growing up? What were the Colwen grounds like? Were there trees and hills and wildflowers? Were the buildings similar to the marbled mansions of Gillikin? Was Elphaba enjoying herself, or was she already sick and overwhelmed with her part in the Thropp family?

The afternoon stretched on like that, with Glinda trying and failing to turn her mind away from her roommate. Every time she thought of the green girl, she grew a little more anxious. She knew Elphaba’s only friends were at Shiz. It wasn’t like the green girl to get lonely, but what if she did?

She would turn to her research, that’s what. Every free moment she had would be spent with her nose buried in Dr. Dillamond’s journal. _At least she’ll have something to escape to,_ Glinda thought, relieved. But there was something else, too.

Fear. Would Elphaba would go too far, like Dillamond had? Would she try something reckless? Would she do something that put her in danger, just to prove her point? Yes. Of course she would. But somehow, that wasn’t Glinda’s concern. Elphaba could take care of herself. So what was really bothering her?

What if she didn’t come back? What if Elphaba discovered something that caused her to not return to Shiz? What if she did come back, but she was so far in that she wasn’t Elphie anymore? Their friendship had only just begun…what if Glinda lost it to this research?

The other passengers started shifting in their seats, gathering their bags and pulling on coats. Glinda shook herself out of her thoughts and looked out the window, immediately recognizing the passing buildings. They were in Frottica.

Elphaba was temporarily forgotten as the train slowed. Glinda pulled on her gloves and gripped her bag tightly. She was on the wrong side of the car to see the station, and it took all her self-control not to run to the other side and look out the window.

When the train finally came to a stop and the doors opened, Glinda hesitated, trailing behind the other passengers. She stood on tiptoe and gazed over the crowd as well as she could, looking for the kind, wrinkled face, the wisps of grey hair, the signature wide-brimmed, flowery hat…

“Ama!” Glinda cried, spotting her and running forward. The old woman held out her arms as Glinda practically tackled her.

“It’s good to see you too, duckie,” Ama Clutch chuckled. Glinda pulled back and looked up at her.

“Mother and Father?” she asked, though she already knew the answer. She’d known it since she got on the train that morning.

The look in Ama’s eyes proved her right. The old woman shook her head gently. “They had a lunch to attend. But they send their love, and they already have reservations for all of you at the Pertha Winery tonight.” Ama cupped Glinda’s cheek. “Come on. Let’s get you home. Everybody’s been counting down until your arrival.”

Glinda smiled and picked up her bags, letting Ama Clutch lead her. The ache of Elphaba’s absence still lingered, but as she climbed into the Upland carriage and settled in next to the old woman, she forgot all about the rumors and reputation that had plagued her the last few weeks. She grinned and leaned her head on Ama’s shoulder, glad to be home.


	33. Chapter 33

Elphaba was the last one to enter the dining hall for lunch—partly due to her avoiding it as long as possible, and partly due to her refusing to ask a servant for directions to the room.

Three others sat at the table. The Eminent Thropp half rose from his chair when she entered, gesturing stiffly for her to sit. Nessarose sat up a little straighter and looked down her nose at her plate as if it were something offensive. Frexspar, on the other hand, gave no indication that he had noticed his eldest daughter.

Elphaba pressed her palms to the skirt of her dress and moved to take the seat next to Nessa, farthest away from her father. The Eminent glanced curiously between the three of them, but if anything about their interaction was strange to him, he didn’t mention it.

A pair of servants entered the room, balancing plates and bowls and cups with masterful ease. Within seconds their meals were in front of them. Elphaba tried not to wrinkle her nose at the sausage on her plate.

“Excuse me,” she said quietly to the servant closest to her. “May I have more mushrooms instead of the sausage, please?”

“Of course, ma’am,” the man said, taking her plate before she had even finished saying thanks.

“It’s rude to turn your nose up at your food, Elphaba,” Nessa said flatly. “Especially when you’re a guest in this house.”

Elphaba kept her eyes on her food as she picked up her spoon and began stirring her soup. “You and Father know full well that I’m a vegetarian. Although I do apologize,” she added somewhat stiffly, looking up at the Eminent, “I should have told you ahead of time.”

“It’s not a problem,” he said. “The kitchen staff will be more than happy to accommodate, I’m sure.”

Frexspar said nothing during the exchange, but Elphaba could see the disapproval etched into his face.

Silence clouded the room as the meal went on, broken only by the gentle clicking of silverware, or the rustle of clothes as someone shifted, or the swinging of doors as servants came in and out. When most of their dishes had been cleared away and the staff had been waved off, the atmosphere shifted. Elphaba glanced around. The Eminent Thropp had leaned forward, threading his fingers together and resting them against his chin. Nessa was sitting taller than ever, hands nervously smoothing the skirt of her dress. Even Frexspar had shifted, and he was now looking directly at Elphaba.

“What’s going on?” the green girl asked. Nessa glanced sideways at her, just long enough to give a warning.

_There is another reason why you must come home… Father has ordered me not to mention it…_

“How do you like your room?” the Eminent asked.

“I’m sure it’s lovely, to one who has admiration for such things. Like the rest of these grounds. Now, would someone tell me what it is you want to discuss, or are we going to waste our breath on meaningless pleasantries for the rest of the meal?”

“ _Elphaba,_ ” Nessa hissed, but the Eminent Thropp merely studied her. Elphaba raised her chin slightly. She didn’t enjoy his scrutiny, especially not when she couldn’t tell what he was thinking. For a long moment, no one said anything.

“No, she’s right.” The voice, surprisingly, was Frex’s. Elphaba grit her teeth. “She’s going to be difficult either way, so we might as well get it over with.”

“And what, may I ask, am I going to be difficult about?” she said, finally looking her father in the eyes. He frowned as they stared at each other, but gestured toward the Eminent to speak.

“We have…business, of a sort, to discuss with you,” he began. “You are well aware of how the Thropp line works, correct?”

“Yes,” she said slowly, tearing her eyes away from Frex to stare at her grandfather. When she found nothing in his expression, she turned to Nessa. To her surprise, her sister was looking down at her lap, her fingers clenched tightly together. She shifted, leaning ever so slightly away from Elphaba’s gaze. Thoughts started running through the green girl’s head, piecing themselves together little by little.

“Well, then, you know that, traditionally, you would be the next ruler of Munchkinland.”

Elphaba could practically hear the catch hanging in the air, unspoken by the other three. It was driving her insane. She raised a brow, looking at each of them in turn. “But?” she prompted.

Nessa pressed her lips together, and Elphaba could have sworn she saw the younger girl shake her head. Frex leaned forward, eyes drilling into Elphaba.

“But, we’ve been thinking a lot lately about this. It is our belief that Nessarose would be much more suitable to the position of Eminent Thropp.”

Everyone around the table tensed—even the air seemed to freeze—as they waited for Elphaba to respond. But the green girl didn’t explode, or yell, or jump angrily to her feet. For a moment, all she could do was sit there. Then she blinked, her eyes focusing once more.

“I-I don’t…Is that even legal?” Of all the things she expected, this certainly wasn’t it. The Eminent Thropp cleared his throat.

“If you renounce your status as Third Thropp Descending, then the position would automatically fall to Nessarose. It’s quite simple, really. Just a few signed papers and a formal statement.”

“Simple? You’re calling this simple?”

“There’s no need to be difficult, Elphaba,” Frexspar said, an all too familiar warning in his tone.

Elphaba glared at him, eyes flashing. “What did you expect? For me to skip off so I can go sign your papers? How long have you been planning this? This is my decision, my future—why am I just now finding out about it?”

“This isn’t something that should be discussed through a letter,” Peerless said calmly. “I understand that this is a bit overwhelming. Perhaps you would like to speak with your family alone? I have business to attend to, anyway.” He rose from his chair and turned to leave, his gaze meeting each of them in turn. When he looked at Elphaba, she was surprised to see the cold anger in his expression. It was the first time she’d been able to tell what he was thinking.

As soon as he had left, Nessa gripped the wheels of her chair. “I’d like to excuse myself, as well,” she said quietly. Frex nodded, and she quickly wheeled herself away from the table and out of the room.

The silence that fell over them didn’t last long.

“That was unnecessary, Elphaba.”

“I agree,” she said, “There are many ways that could have been handled better.”

“You have been here for less than a day, and already you’re making our family look bad.”

Elphaba rested her elbows on the table and leaned forward, rubbing her temples. “I honestly don’t know what you expected, Father. You can’t just announce something like this and not expect me to react. Surely, after raising me for eighteen years, you know better than that.”

“And surely _you_ know better than to act the way you did.”

“I wouldn’t have acted the way I did if you didn’t throw this at me out of nowhere,” she said heatedly.

“Do _not_ raise your voice at me.” His hand came down on the table, smacking the wood loudly. Elphaba tried her hardest not to flinch as the sound reverberated through the room.

“Why did you hide this from me?” she asked quietly.

“I’ve hidden nothing.”

“I’m not stupid!” Elphaba nearly hissed. “This isn’t something you decide overnight. You’ve been thinking about this for months—maybe even years. Why now? Were you just waiting for me to go to school so it would be easier to get me out of the picture?”

“You’re being ridiculous, Elphaba. This isn’t about you. It’s about Nessarose.”

“See, I don’t entirely believe that. And since when have you cared about the Thropp line, anyway? You’ve never cared for politics, and I know Mother never—”

Frex jumped up, and this time Elphaba really did flinch away. He rounded the table to stand next to her, hovering over her as she curled in on herself.

“How many times do I have to tell you? _Never_ speak of your mother. You have no right to even mention her! Do you hear me?” His words were low and fast, spoken almost directly into her ear. Elphaba pushed away from him and rose to her feet. But before she could rush out of the room, he grabbed her and yanked her around to face him. She stared at the ground, telling her body not to register the feeling of his fingers digging into her arm. “I asked you a question, Elphaba.”

“Yes.”

“Yes, what?”

“I heard you.” She clenched her jaw, breathing sharply through her nose in an attempt to stop the energy humming through her. Next to them, the chairs started to rattle. Frex noticed and pushed Elphaba away, his eyes widening.

“I thought you’d learned to control that,” he said.

“It’s not my fault you piss me off,” Elphaba said under her breath. Unfortunately, Frex heard her. He stepped forward, hand twitching at his side, but then stopped. With a heavy sigh, he turned away.

“Get out. Before you make things even worse.”

Elphaba turned on her heel and all but fled the room, but she could still hear him muttering to himself, words like _wicked, useless, devil spawn._

She closed her eyes and rushed blindly down the halls, finally finding the front doors and running down the steps, away from the castle, into some far-off, forgotten corner of the grounds.

She didn’t stop for a long time.

 

***

 

Glinda hadn’t moved for a long time.

She was lying in her giant, fluffy bed, staring sightlessly up at her ceiling with no intention of moving anytime soon.

Someone knocked on her door, almost too soft to hear. Glinda didn’t answer. She didn’t even turn to look as the door creaked open and Ama’s face appeared.

“May I come in?” Her voice was gentle. Glinda shrugged, her shoulders brushing against the mattress beneath her. Ama Clutch slipped into the room, carrying a small silver tray. “I brought dinner. The bread’s straight from the oven. Can you smell it?”

Glinda inhaled softly, breathing in the warm fragrance. She wrinkled her nose. “Not hungry,” she mumbled.

Ama set the tray down on the nightstand and put a hand over Glinda’s forehead, brushing back the golden hair. “I thought you had fun with your friends today.”

The blonde closed her eyes. “I did. It’s just…”

Ama Clutch nodded, stroking her cheek. “Do you want to talk about it?”

Glinda shook her head, eyes still closed. Ama sighed but pulled her hand back.

“I’ll leave the tray in here, in case you get hungry. Is there anything else I can bring you?”

Again, she shook her head. “I just…want to think for a little bit.”

Now _there_ was something she hadn’t heard in years. Ama Clutch smiled a little as she stood from the bed. “I’ll leave you be, then.” She bent down and pressed a kiss to Glinda’s forehead, then straightened and left the room. She paused in the doorway, just long enough to look over her shoulder. “I recommend writing things down, if you can. It really helps the thought process.”

She disappeared down the hall before Glinda could open her eyes and sit up. Sighing, Glinda pressed her palms against her forehead and fell back to the bed.

She didn’t even know what was wrong. A few hours ago she had returned from town, still smiling from the afternoon spent with her friends. A few nights ago, dinner with her parents had been wonderful. Sure, they had all stumbled over her name a few times, but they were trying. So far, Lurlinemas break had been great.

Now, though, she could barely bring herself to move. At first she thought she was bored, but that wasn’t quite right. She could go wander around the garden, or sketch more building designs into one of her countless drawing pads, or sit on the counter in the kitchen and dry dishes as Ama washed and babbled on about the town gossip. She loved doing all these things, yet in that moment, nothing felt right.

The blonde rolled over and propped her head up on an elbow, gazing out her window. The view was half-blocked by a giant tree. The thick branches reached close enough that, if she were brave enough, she could climb out the window onto one. The tree was dead for the winter, but Glinda found herself wishing for the green glow that filled her room when the sun shone through the leaves in the summer.

She wondered what Elphaba was doing.


	34. Chapter 34

Elphaba woke to the sharp snapping of metal.

Her head snapped up, eyes blinking to adjust in the darkness. She was curled up against a tree, barely visible in the tall grass, but nothing around her seemed familiar. Where was she?

The Colwen Grounds, she remembered. The argument with her father. Sighing heavily, she sat up straighter and looked around. She had run to some far corner of the grounds—the castle was barely in sight, and there were no paths to be found. Instead, she was surrounded by fields of waist-high grass and dead trees. She glanced up at the sky, but it was too cloudy to see anything. It must have been late. She remembered walking around for what felt like hours before finally settling against her tree. Thank Oz it hadn’t started raining or snowing while she was out here. Somehow, she doubted anyone would come looking for her.

Something rustled in the grass a few feet away, and she remembered the noise that woke her up. She leaned forward cautiously, peering into the darkness. She could just barely make out… _something._ It was moving. Slowly, trying not to make a sound, she rose to her feet.

The movement stopped as a head whipped around to stare at her. She could just barely make out a pair of brown, beady eyes drilling into her. They gleamed with intelligence—anger mixing with fear mixing with a dangerous warning—but they weren’t quite human, either.

“Who are you?” Elphaba asked softly.

There was no answer, but she thought she heard a sharp _click_. It reminded her vaguely of Ayla, at the Peach and Kidneys. Crouching down once more, Elphaba tried again.

“I’m not going to do anything. Just tell me who you are.”

Silence. Then, “I don’t see how that’s any of your business.”

The voice was sharp, and not just in tone. Consonants clicked out distinctly and harshly, as if the speaker struggled to pronounce softer sounds.

“Well, then,” Elphaba started, trying not to scowl. “What are you doing at the Colwen Grounds?”

The eyes blinked. “Again, not your business.”

Now Elphaba’s brow furrowed. “If it’s not my business, then what are you still doing here, talking to me?”

The creature shifted, and Elphaba saw the outline of something shift and rustle behind it. “I don’t have to give you any answers. Now run along. Leave me be.”

The voice seemed suddenly younger. Elphaba decided it was male, maybe a few years older than her, and close to being as stubborn as she was.

But not quite.

“The thing is,” she said slowly, “I live here. I don’t need to take orders from you.”

“And I,” the creature said, “am not a Munchkinlander. _I_ don’t need to take orders from _you._ ”

“Well it looks like we’re just stuck then, aren’t we?” Elphaba said, pursing her lips. “I suggest, instead of trying to order each other around, we try acting civil. How does that sound?”

“I don’t need your help!” the voice hissed suddenly. Elphaba raised an eyebrow.

“Who said anything about needing help?”

Before he could respond, the clouds shifted above them, letting the moon shine through. In the sudden light, Elphaba could see the creature—a Bird, she realized—fold and unfold his wings restlessly. The feathers around his neck rumpled and he hobbled a bit, wincing as he did so. Elphaba glanced down just in time to see a glint of jagged metal before the clouds obscured the sky again, making everything dark.

“You’re hurt!”

“Stay away!”

But Elphaba was already moving forward and kneeling next to the Bird. He was big, towering over her as she bent toward the ground to inspect the metal trap. His wings stretched out, blocking most of her vision, and fluttered angrily.

“I could rip your throat out right now,” he threatened, clicking his beak angrily.

“But you won’t,” Elphaba responded coolly. “Not if you want to get out of this. Now stop moving.”

It took a while, but he eventually settled down enough to listen to her. Elphaba examined the trap, hovering her fingers over it and the Bird’s foot. Luckily, his ankle was thick and the trap was old. Nothing appeared to be broken, although the cut was deep.

“Hold very still,” Elphaba whispered. She glanced up and met the Bird’s eyes briefly. He blinked once, then unfolded his wings slightly, balancing himself. The green girl looked back down, wrapping her fingers around each side of the jagged clamp. She let out a slow breath. Then, in one quick motion, she gripped the metal and yanked it open.

The Bird squawked above her, snapping his beak and swinging his head around furiously, but the second his foot was free, he hopped away, flapping his wings hard. Elphaba let the trap clamp shut again and fell back, narrowly avoiding getting smacked with a wing half as big as she was.

“Wait!” she called, stumbling to her feet as the Bird pushed off from the ground. “Who are you?”

The Bird shifted his feathers, tilting in an arc above her head. He glanced down at her, beady eyes unreadable.

“Peric.”

He turned away and flew higher, disappearing into the night sky.

 

***

 

“Elphaba. Wake _up._ ”

Elphaba woke the next morning to a sharp voice calling her name. She blinked her eyes open to find her sister sitting next to her bed, glaring down at her.

“What is it, Nessa?” she asked, sitting up. “What’s wrong?”

“Where were you last night?”

Elphaba pressed her palms to her eyes. “Walking. I was exploring the grounds.”

“All day?”

“This place is huge.”

“Why didn’t you come back?” If there was concern in Nessa’s voice, it was well-masked by annoyance. Elphaba dropped her hands and scowled at her sister.

“I fell asleep.”

“Outside?”

“Yes.”

“ _Why_?”

“It was an accident. Why do you care?”

“We didn’t see you after lunch.”

“Yeah, well, there was a reason for that.” Elphaba rose from the bed and went to her suitcase. Nessa watched her, rolling her chair back and forth.

“Father said you didn’t take the news well.”

Elphaba grit her teeth. “Seriously, what did you expect?”

“You could have at least tried to act civil.”

“You never gave me a chance! You can’t just announce something like this and expect me to agree right away.”

Nessarose stilled, meeting her sister’s eyes. “Okay. But what about now?”

“What?”

“You’ve had your chance. You’ve had nearly an entire day to think about it. What do you say?”

Elphaba opened her mouth to respond, then shut it again. She turned back to her bag and started pulling out clothes. “It’ll take more than one day, Nessa.”

The younger girl crossed her thin arms over her chest. “What is there to think about? Either you want to rule Munchkinland, or you don’t. And we both know that you never wanted to. So what’s the big deal?”

The green girl clenched her fists around the dress she had just grabbed. “You’re right. What does my opinion matter? Clearly you and Father have been planning this for a while. _Obviously_ you were going to do this whether I agree or not. So why even bother asking?”

Nessarose let out a noise of frustration. “Has it ever occurred to you that perhaps I _want_ your approval for this?”

Elphaba spun around. “If you wanted my approval, you should have just _told_ me—it would have gone been much better than cornering me at lunch with some old man I’ve never met before sitting across the table!”

“He’s the Eminent Thropp! He’s our grandfather! You can’t talk about him like that!”

“You’re trying to cut me out of the entire Thropp line. Does that not mean I get to do what I want?”

“Renouncing your position won’t give you immunity,” Nessa said coldly. Elphaba froze.

“Is that what this is about? Authority over me?”

“Do you really think I’m that petty?”

“No, but I think Father might be.”

“ _Elphaba._ ”

“Come on, Nessa. You can’t honestly believe he’d do all this without some sort of ulterior motive.”

“Not everyone treats life like some strategic battle, Elphaba.”

“Ah, see, there’s where you’re wrong.”

Nessa shook her head, sighing heavily. “Whatever. We can argue the meaning of life any time. Do you have your answer?”

Elphaba narrowed her eyes. “No. I don’t have my answer. You and Father don’t get to drag me away from Shiz just to sit me down and tell me all the decisions you’ve made for my life. That’s not how this works. Now get out of my room.”

Nessarose glared at her, but she spun her chair around and wheeled herself out. Elphaba followed and slammed the door behind her.

She dressed angrily, yanking her clothes on and viciously pulling her hair back into a braid. Once she was finished, she paced around the room, kicking her suitcase out of the way as she passed it. After a few minutes she was breathing hard and her forehead was starting to sting from sweat. With a frustrated growl, she marched up to the window and flung it open. The winter air rushed into her room, immediately cooling her off.

Her shoulders sagged. It wasn’t fair. She wasn’t used to being blindsided like this, and she had no idea how to respond.

Elphaba pushed the window open further and climbed onto the sill, letting one leg dangle down. She was a couple stories up, high enough to see over the tops of nearby trees, and for a moment she just sat there, letting the view calm her. Her leg kicked backing and forth, hitting the bricks below. As the tension left her, she began to let her mind wander.

She wondered what Glinda was doing. Was she shopping with her friends? Having lunch with her parents? Did she perhaps miss Elphaba?

The green girl quickly pushed this last thought away. Glinda would be enjoying herself and her free time. Even if the blonde missed her, she couldn’t possibly be experiencing the same, painful longing that was tugging at Elphaba’s chest.

No, Glinda wouldn’t be thinking about her. Elphaba told herself that it was best. Glinda deserved the chance to be away from all of their peers and not have to worry about rumors or reputation. But a small, selfish part of her wished it wasn’t so. She was worried that her blonde roommate would spend a month away and forget all about her. She would decide that Elphaba was too harsh and bitter, that her interests were too boring, that being a social outcast wasn’t worth it. And indeed, the green girl had nothing to offer her friend.

_In fact,_ Elphaba thought as she glanced back at the bag that contained Dr. Dillamond’s journal, _She’d be a lot safer without me._

Thinking of Glinda was starting to hurt, and she didn’t want to deal with the Eminency issue right now. Dillamond’s research suddenly seemed like the distraction she needed, but she couldn’t summon the energy to climb down from the windowsill.

A shadow passed over her. She looked up to see a bird gliding overhead—or perhaps, she thought as she caught sight of brown beady eyes, it was a Bird.

She watched him angle toward the window, tilting his wings to catch the air and slow down. Elphaba was silent as he steadied himself and landed on a tree branch. He hopped a little, moving closer to her window, and then stilled. His head tilted as he looked at her, and it hit Elphaba once again how large he was.

“Peric,” she said softly. He peered at her, his feathers rippling as she said his name. Silence hung between them, broken only by the gentle whistling of the cold wind. For the first time, Elphaba got a good look at the Bird. His dark feathers gleamed in the light, not unlike Elphaba’s hair. He was mostly black, with streaks of grey at the ends of his wings. A fluff of white feathers surrounded his neck, and his hard, wrinkly head was brownish red. There was a bony red ridge on top of his head with a significant chunk missing out of it, and numerous small scars were visible throughout his body, along with a slight kink at the top of his tail. He held himself proudly, with his wings folded neatly across his back and his neck up high. His eyes—which looked more orange than brown in the sunlight—glinted with intelligence, but the curve of his beak and set of his face gave Elphaba the impression that he would not hesitate to tear something or someone apart.

“Who are you?” the Bird asked finally. Elphaba shifted, bringing both legs up to her chest.

“Elphaba.”

Peric repeated the name, struggling a little bit to pronounce it. “Are you a Thropp?”

Elphaba pressed her lips together. “Yes.”

“I haven’t seen you here before.”

“I arrived yesterday.”

Peric leaned back and tucked his neck in. “Why?”

“Why do you want to know?”

“I’m curious.”

“Last night you wanted nothing to do with me.”

He snapped his beak, agitated. Elphaba scowled. They glared at each other for a moment.

“Fine,” Peric said. “I came here to thank you. I owe you.” As he spoke, he shifted and lifted his foot. Elphaba caught a stain of dried blood, but for the most part it looked fine.

Her eyes softened. “Don’t worry about it.”

Peric rustled his wings. “I have to admit, I am…intrigued by you, Elph-Elpha…” He clicked his beak in frustration, and the green girl fought against the urge to smile.

“Why do you say that?” she asked. Then she glanced down at herself. _Stupid question,_ she thought.

“It’s not the green, if that’s what you’re wondering,” he said.

“No?”

“No.”

She raised an eyebrow. The split of his beak turned up into a grin.

“You just seem…interesting. Not many people would speak to an Animal as if they were equals. Also, not many people would be sleeping against a tree when they have an entire castle to live in. Speaking of which, I’ve never seen you around the Colwen Grounds until now. So naturally, I am curious as to who you are and what you’re doing here. But on top of all that, I come to find you and instead of being inside the castle or strolling the grounds you are hanging out a window, brooding.”

“I wasn’t brooding,” Elphaba said, scowling.

“I saw your face when I flew up: the scowl, the frown, the far-off look in your eyes. Obviously brooding.”

“The look in my eyes?” Elphaba scoffed. “You were thirty feet above me. How could you possibly see that?”

The white feathers around his neck puffed out. “I’m a _Bird._ Our vision is incredible.”

Elphaba didn’t have a response, so she shrugged and looked away. “I wasn’t brooding,” she muttered. Peric snorted. “Did you come here just to annoy me?”

“I came here to thank you.”

“Yes, well, you’ve done that. So why are you still here?”

“Because I’m still curious.”

Elphaba stared at him. “What do you want to know?” she asked quietly.

He shifted a little, settling down on his branch, and tilted his head a little to meet her eyes.

“Who are you?”


	35. Chapter 35

Elphaba Thropp could not be summed up in one simple conversation. As it turned out, she couldn’t even be summed up in a single day.

She and Peric stayed there for hours, telling stories and asking each other questions. When Peric flew off that night, long after the sun had set, he was only more intrigued by Elphaba, and vice versa. As a result, the two found themselves spending more and more time together every day.

Elphaba told him about her childhood: taking care of Nessa, travelling across Munchkinland and Quadling Country as her father gave sermons, learning how to lose herself in stories and research, finding her passion in history and the life sciences. She talked about Shiz, and how excited she was to further her studies. Much to her surprise, she found herself telling Peric more private details, too. How relieved she was to not be her sister’s caretaker anymore, how personal the issue of Animal rights was, how naïve she had been when she thought life at Shiz would be easy, and how strange it was to find a friend in her roommate.

She did her best to avoid speaking of Glinda, but the blonde seemed to keep popping up in her stories. Peric seemed to notice her hesitation, and he didn’t ask many questions about Glinda.

Mostly, though, Elphaba found herself talking about the research. She recalled, with a bittersweet edge to her voice, sitting in the life science room before her first class, waiting for the scientist she most adored to walk in.

“Dillamond?” Peric asked, flapping his wings a bit. “You had a class with Dr. _Dillamond?_ ”

“For a while,” Elphaba said. “But then…”

Peric clicked his beak as she told him about Dillamond’s last day at Shiz. Elphaba studied the Bird, noting the puff of his chest and ruffle of his feathers. His eyes had darkened, glinting beadily, obviously agitated. She decided to trust him. Ducking back into her room, she grabbed the journal that she kept under her mattress.

“Elphaba Thropp,” Peric said after she had thumbed through the journal and explained the basis of Dillamond’s theories to him, “You are a mystery that never ends.”

The green girl had been quite pleased.

Elphaba learned a lot more about Peric, too. He was homeless and companionless, and had been since he was young.

“It’s not that uncommon,” he told her, picking at a feather on his left wing. “Especially among Birds. Most of my kind doesn’t want anything to do with Ozian society, so they keep to themselves, somewhere out of reach. Those of us who haven’t quite given up wander on our own.”

And that’s what he did, flying aimlessly through Oz. Sometimes he stayed low, sneaking around and gathering information. Sometimes he was loud and destructive, picking fights and ruining plans wherever he could. He had more than a few battle scars, as Elphaba had seen, and he displayed them proudly, recounting tales of freed Animals and angry, corrupt business owners.

Most of the time, though, he tended to just…be. He wandered and watched, learning what he could about people and places and events and corruption and revolution.

Elphaba enjoyed his stories about the far corners of Oz. Peric had travelled everywhere, from Quadling Country to Gillikin, the Vinkus to Munchkinland, and everywhere in between.

“I think I prefer Munchkinland, though,” he mused. “It’s more a part of Oz than the Vinkus or Quadling Country, yet it’s far enough from the Wizard’s reach to be safe. Well, safer than Gillikin or the Emerald City.”

_There he is again,_ Elphaba thought to herself. _The Wizard._ Even just his name was starting to make her uneasy.

 

***

 

Somewhere amid all the long conversations, endless questions, and late night stories, living at the Colwen Grounds became easier. Nessa continued to press Elphaba for an answer. Her father would glare disapprovingly or corner her when no one else was around. The Eminent Thropp frowned and turned a cold shoulder whenever he saw her. She missed Glinda constantly, and she was running out of options with Dillamond’s research. Yet, somehow, all of that faded to the background when Peric was perched outside her window.

“Munchkinland is odd to me,” Peric said to her one day. Elphaba was sprawled out on the floor near the windowsill, surrounded by a mess of books and papers that she couldn’t quite bring herself to focus on. She rolled to her side and looked up at him.

“Oh?”

He lifted a foot and scratched at the stone of the window absentmindedly. “Yes. Think about it—a stand-alone government in the middle of another country? Especially when that other country is becoming more corrupt by the day?”

Elphaba smirked. Peric spoke passionately and freely, unafraid of any consequence his words would bring. It was one of the reasons she enjoyed his company.

“I suppose it’s a strange concept, especially in the Oz we live in today. But we’re not an entirely stand-alone government. We still have to answer to the Wizard.”

“Do you really, though?” he asked, tilting his head. “You’re far enough away, and the Wizard has many things he cares about more than the Munchkins. My guess is that a lot could happen here at the Colwen Grounds without the Wizard knowing about it.”

Elphaba gestured to the papers strewn around her. “Illegal research, for example?”

Peric grinned. “Well, yes. But more than that.”

The green girl thought about it. “I suppose so. But I don’t think there’s ever been a reason to lie to the Wizard. At least, not about anything important. As far as I can remember, Munchkinland has been sort of indifferent to the rest of Oz, and the feeling is mutual.”

The Bird was silent for a moment. It was only after Elphaba had turned back to her papers that he spoke again. “What’s even odder, though, is why you want no part of it all.”

Elphaba’s fingers tightened around her pen. She had been hesitant to tell Peric about the arguments with her family for exactly this reason. She didn’t want to talk about it, not even with a third party. But it was hard to keep things from someone who spent most of his free time lurking around the castle. Peric knew most of what was going on in the Colwen Grounds, sometimes even before she did.

“Politics,” she said after a while, “Are not what I want to do with my life.”

There was a hint of warning in her tone. Peric didn’t bring it up the rest of the day.

 

***

 

Peric was curious. He was constantly trying to learn more about everything—it’s just what he did. He was interested and persistent and passionate and stubborn, and if he knew when to stop asking questions, he didn’t show it. He pressed Elphaba for answers. Sometimes it was about simple things, like pieces of Dillamond’s research. Sometimes it was more personal, like the latest argument with Nessa or her father. Often, there were no answers, just discussions that never quite ended. But always he kept her talking, even after she’d put up her walls and shut him out. It was both infuriating and healthy for the green girl.

Somewhere along the way, Elphaba wondered how they’d gotten to be so close so quickly. True, she’d always gotten along well with Animals, but never along the lines of _friendship._ It was new and strange and sometimes after he left for the night she would stare up at her ceiling and marvel at it all. She knew this would never have happened if it weren’t for Glinda. The blonde was the first to bring down her walls, and Elphaba supposed that just made it easier for others to do the same.

Of course, thinking all of this led to thinking of her roommate. It was around that time that Elphaba would roll over, pull the blanket up to her chin, and try to get some sleep.

 

***

 

As the days rolled into weeks, Peric became her buffer. He would perch on her windowsill, or her dresser, or the headboard of her bed, and watch as she paced back and forth, either muttering to herself or ranting loudly. He listened to her ravings about her father, her worries over the Eminency position, her ramblings about Dillamond’s research and, on rare occasions, her stories about Glinda.

Elphaba would move restlessly about the room, her nose buried in Dillamond’s journal, reading notes out loud and bouncing ideas off the Bird. Once in a while he would offer a couple words of advice, but most often he simply had to sit there as she worked through the research out loud. It was an odd sort of teamwork, but both sides were content.

Of course, Peric wasn’t always around. He took daytrips away from the grounds, flying off to hunt or stretch his wings for a day or, as he would sometimes say, “Check something out.”

“I had actually planned on spending Lurlinemas around the Emerald City,” he told her one day. “Security’s always a bit more relaxed during the holiday.”

“What were you going to do there?” Elphaba asked, looking up at him.

He ducked his head and picked at a feather near his shoulder, a movement Elphaba had come to recognize as a nervous habit. “I’m not sure,” he said finally, and they both knew he wasn’t being entirely truthful. “But whatever it is, this is far more important.”

 

***

 

Peric was gone the day she officially hit her breaking point.

The desk in the corner of her room was a mess. She was losing track of which notes were where, and she didn’t have enough room to keep things well organized. There were books she needed that she hadn’t thought to bring with her over break. Her hand was cramping from relentlessly writing and crossing out long pages of notes. Her arms ached from wheeling Nessa around all day—a task she was still stuck with, despite their arguments that grew more and more bitter each day. She had skipped both lunch and dinner to avoid her father, and her head was starting to throb from the lack of food.

None of this was the problem, though. She could live with all of this. She could fix all of this. What she could not fix was the fact that she was stuck.

She had recreated Dillamond’s experimental procedures to the best of her ability, but there was still so much she couldn’t do without being in a lab. She had gone through and taken notes on his entire journal, but there was still so much that went way over her head. She had marked her books until it was impossible to flip through them without finding some sort of pen mark or bent corner, but it wasn’t enough. None of it was enough.

She made a noise that was something between a groan and a snarl and stood up from her desk. She paced the room furiously, kicking aside anything that was in her path. Here she was, finally staring down the dead end she had known was coming. She had been waiting for this since she first cracked open the notebook. There was too much here. She couldn’t understand it all. She didn’t have enough experience, enough resources, enough _time._

Because she couldn’t help but feel that there was a time limit here. She was running against a clock, and right now she was sure she was losing. She just didn’t know what she was losing to.

She wished Peric was here. Having someone to talk to helped her work through things, and more importantly, it calmed her down. Right now, all she was doing was getting more worked up.

Her body was exhausted, but her mind was brimming with energy. Thoughts flew through her head, too fast to fully understand. She put a hand to her temple, trying to rub away her growing headache. If there was a solution to this, she couldn’t see it. All she could see was the mess on her desk, a perfect image of everything she couldn’t do.

_I need Dr. Dillamond,_ she thought desperately, her throat tightening.

Tears pricked at her eyes, something that took the green girl completely by surprise. She brushed them away angrily, collapsing back into the chair at her desk. With a tiny, whimper-like sigh, she buried her head in her arms. She could feel the press of pens and books against her arms and forehead, but she didn’t care.

She was stuck. She had no idea what to do. And in that moment, for the first time in her life, Elphaba Thropp wanted to just give up.


	36. Chapter 36

Peric flew up to the Colwen Grounds early the next morning. It had snowed the night before, and a heavy mist was hovering over the white ground. The Thropp castle was striking in contrast to the pale ground. Peric thought it seemed fitting as he angled down toward a window on the western side.

The window, as always, was cracked open. He nudged it with a wing and hopped inside. The room was still shadowed but his sharp eyes adjusted instantly.

He had half-expected Elphaba to be asleep. What he did not expect, however, was for the green girl to be hunched painfully over her desk, buried in her books and papers. He clicked his beak worriedly as he looked at her. Even in sleep, she was gripping her arms tightly, curling in on herself. Streaks of hair had been torn from her braid and hung messily around her face.

“Elph-Elpha-” He snapped his beak in frustration, then flew over to perch on the back of her chair. “Hey, wake up.”

The green girl didn’t stir, which worried him even more. He leaned down and tugged at her braid. “Wake up. El…Fae, wake up!”

She stirred, shaking her head. Peric let her hair fall and moved back to her bed.

“Peric?” Elphaba asked, rubbing a hand over her face. “What are you doing here? What time is it?”

“I’ve never seen you so disoriented,” the Bird said, almost chuckling. “I just got back. It’s still early.”

Elphaba stretched and had to bite back a groan as her back ached in protest. “I fell asleep,” she muttered to herself, surprised.

“Well, that is what most normal people do.”

“Oh hush.”

Peric studied her. “Bad night?” he asked.

The green girl looked down at the chaos that was her desk. “You could say that.” Peric waited silently, so she sighed and went on. “I…hit a dead end last night. I don’t know what…there’s nothing left I can do with this research. It’s either over my head or out of my reach. I don’t have the resources, or the experience, or…” She rubbed her forehead, still feeling exhausted. “I-I…I can’t do this. I’m stuck, and I need Dr. Dillamond, and I can’t do this.”

“Is there no way you can reach him?”

“I don’t even know where he is,” she whispered.

Peric studied her for a long moment. She shifted and turned away, avoiding his gaze.

“Write to him,” he said finally.

“What?”

“Write him a letter. Ask for help. Ask what to do next.”

She glanced up at him. “How in Oz would I get it to him?”

“I’ll take it,” the Bird said simply. Elphaba’s eyes darkened.

“No. No, I can’t ask you to do that. You’re not some messenger pigeon.”

The white feathers of his collar puffed out. “No, I’m not. And you’re not asking, I’m telling. Write to Dillamond. I’ll get it to him.”

“And how would you know…” Elphaba trailed off, shaking her head. She knew Peric would find a way. “You’re sure about this?”

The Bird nodded. “Absolutely, Fae.”

“…Fae?”

He tucked his neck in, looking almost sheepish. “Well, you know I have trouble pronouncing your name—not all words are made to be said with beaks, you know? Fae is easier.”

Elphaba smiled. “Okay. Fae. I can live with that.”

Peric straightened. “Good. You should get some sleep—I mean, actual sleep. That desk can’t have been comfortable.”

The green girl rubbed her neck as he flew toward the windowsill. “Not exactly,” she mumbled. “Peric?”

“Yeah?”

“Will you be back later?”

Peric looked back at her and was surprised to see a hint of vulnerability flash across her face. For the first time since he’d met her, the green girl looked almost… _afraid_ of being left alone. The Bird wondered just how bad last night had been.

He unfolded his wings and started flapping, getting a feel of the cold air. “I’ll be back later,” he promised. Elphaba nodded and sank down onto her bed. Peric could feel her eyes following him as he took off into the freezing morning.

 

***

 

_Dr. Dillamond,_

Elphaba paused, pulling her pen back from the paper. It had been over two months since her teacher had walked past the gates of Shiz, never to return. What was she supposed to say to him?

As strange as it was, she had never prepared for this. She knew they were working together, but her mind had always brushed past the part of them actually being, well, _together._ Regaining contact with the old Goat had seemed like too much to hope for, so Elphaba had never thought of it. As a result, she was at a complete loss, sitting at the desk that was now cleared off of everything but a sheet of paper with only two words written on it.

_Dr. Dillamond,_

The green girl ran a hand through her hair. Something was brimming inside her chest, threatening to spill out. Her hand shook above the paper, and with a sigh she dropped the pen and flattened her palm against the desk. She willed herself to relax, to come up with something to say other than _I can’t do this._

_There is no such thing as impenetrability,_ Dr. Dillamond had told her once.Elphaba closed her eyes as the memory came to her. The late summer sun was flooding into his tiny office. The two had been debating a subject that Elphaba now recognized as the core of Dillamond’s research.

“It seems to me the proof would lie in the mind,” Elphaba had said. “What components of the brain make a creature more than just a creature? What differs from humans to Animals to animals?”

“You are indeed right, Miss Elphaba,” the Goat had said, eyes twinkling.

“But what good does that do? If the only way to prove the equality of Animals and humans is in the chemical makeup of the brain…I mean, that’s impossible, isn’t it? No one’s ever researched…no one knows…I mean, the mind is impenetrable.”

“There is no such thing as impenetrability,” Dr. Dillamond said, leaning forward. “There are obstacles, yes, but never are they permanent. The Animal clans in the Vinkus used to work so well together that nothing could conquer them, yet now they’ve nearly vanished. There are ancient castles across Oz whose owners thought they’d never fall, yet now they are reduced to nothing but rubble. The Ozma regime was expected to rule until the end of time, but where are they now? Gone. Left with nothing but mystery and myth. As scientists and scholars we face road blocks, yes, but they cannot stop us. The only thing that can stop us is a lack of trying.”

Elphaba opened her mouth to respond, but then shut it again, unable to think of something. Dillamond’s beard twitched.

“And between the two of us, Miss Elphaba,” he’d added, smiling, “I don’t think a lack of trying will ever be a problem.”

Now, Elphaba leaned back from her desk, her eyes screwed shut. She missed her teacher. She missed his wisdom and inspiration, his gentle nudging that pushed her to her best. Right now she just felt lost, hanging in the air with nothing to hold on to and nothing to pull her in the right direction. She needed…

Elphaba picked up her pen.

_Dr. Dillamond,_

_I need your help._

 

***

 

“Elphaba?”

The green girl shoved her letter out of sight as her door opened. “Haven’t you ever heard of knocking, Nessa?”

“Sorry.” For once, the younger girl looked like she meant it. “It’s just…Father wants to see you.”

Elphaba tensed. “Why?”

“Why do you think?” Nessa wrung her hands. “Elphaba, um…”

Elphaba looked over at her sister. Something was wrong. “Nessa?”

“You should just know…he’s been drinking all afternoon.”

The green girl’s blood ran cold. “Where’s Grandfather?”

“Gone on business. He won’t be back for a couple of days.”

Elphaba brushed her hair back, sighing, and stood up. “Go to your room, Nessa.”

The younger girl bit her lip, rolling herself back and forth as Elphaba slipped on her shoes and went to the door. “Elphaba—wait. Don’t go.”

“Why not?”

“You know why not.”

Elphaba slowly closed the door and turned to lean against it. She closed her eyes but faced her sister. “Why not?”

Nessa made a noise of frustration. “What, have you been gone so long you forgot?” she snapped.

“Why shouldn’t I go talk to Father when he’s drunk?” Elphaba asked calmly.

“You know how he gets!”

“How does he get?”

Nessa gripped the arms of her chair until her knuckles turned white. “He can’t control his temper. H-he gets angry with you.”

“He’s always angry with me.”

“But this is worse!”

Elphaba opened her eyes. “How so?”

“He yells at you—”

“He always does that.”

“He threatens—”

“Nothing unusual.”

“ _He hits you!_ ”

Silence fell over the room. The sisters stared at each other, Elphaba gazing calmly while Nessa’s chest heaved.

“You’ve never said it before,” Elphaba said finally.

Nessa buried her face in her hands. “If I said it, it would be real.”

Elphaba closed her eyes and sucked in a breath. She wanted to scream at Nessa, tell her it was real anyway, but she didn’t have the heart. Instead, she exhaled and opened her eyes again. “It only happened a couple of times.”

“It happened more than that. More than I ever knew.”

“Has he hit you?”

Nessa looked up. “What?”

“You heard me. When I was gone, did he hit you?”

“No.” Nessa met her eyes, and for a moment they just stood there. Finally, Elphaba nodded.

“Good. Now go. Stay away from him for tonight.”

“Elphaba, don’t go down there.”

“I’m not,” she promised, opening her door. Nessa wheeled toward the hallway, but then stopped.

“Elphaba?”

The green girl heard the new question in her voice and sighed. “Not tonight, Nessa. I—”

“I’m not looking for an answer,” Nessa said quickly. “I just…want to understand. I don’t want to keep arguing over this. Not when we only have a couple weeks before you leave again.”

“Nessa, all we ever do is argue.”

“But not like this. Please, Elphaba, I just…I don’t know what you’re thinking. I don’t know what the problem is. You never wanted to be the Eminent Thropp.”

Elphaba stared. “Did…did you?”

“I…don’t know.”

Something in her voice made Elphaba pause, and for the first time in her life she wondered what it would be like to be the younger sister.

“Look, Nessa.” She knelt down in front of the chair, resting one arm on her sister’s knees and the other on one of the arms. It was their typical position of comfort, of intimacy, and for the first time since leaving for break, Elphaba felt like she was home. “The inheritance, the Eminency—it’s huge. And this issue doesn’t end when I give my answer. I promise, we’ll talk about it, just the two of us. We’ll work it out. But right now Father’s drunk and Grandfather’s gone and it’s starting to get late. Some other day, okay?”

Nessa grabbed the hand on her knees and held it tight. She had always been mature for her age, but right now she looked years younger. “Promise me, Fabala. Promise we won’t end up like Father, or Mother, or anyone else in our family. We’ll always be sisters…right?”

If Elphaba was surprised, she didn’t show it. “Of course we will, Nessa. We’ve been through too much to be anything else.”

Nessarose nodded, and for a while Elphaba kept kneeling, letting their words settle around them. Then she stood up, kissed her sister on the forehead, and took her to her room.

 

***

 

“Your father hits you?”

Elphaba jumped at the voice. “Peric!” she hissed, spotting the Bird on her windowsill. “How long have you been there?”

“Here?” he asked, scraping his talons against the stone. “About five minutes.”

The green girl scowled, shutting the door to her room behind her. “How long were you listening?”

Peric picked at his wing. “A while.”

Elphaba sighed. “You know what? It doesn’t matter.”

“I think it does.”

“It’s not like it’s a surprise,” the green girl spat. “And it hasn’t happened in a long time.”

“Because you went to Shiz? Or before that?”

“Before that,” she said shortly. “Now, can we focus on more important things, or are you going to keep questioning me about my past?”

Peric rustled his wings and stared at her. He was almost impossible to see against the night sky behind him. “Next time,” the Bird said slowly, “I’ll claw his eyes out.”

He said it so seriously, his eyes drilling unblinkingly into hers, that Elphaba just couldn’t help it. She laughed.

Peric huffed and ruffled his collar indignantly, but he couldn’t keep a straight face for long either. He clicked his beak and grinned, shaking his head. “This isn’t funny,” he said, chuckling.

“No,” Elphaba agreed, still smiling. “It’s not.” Their eyes met, and Elphaba understood that, despite their humor, Peric had been serious. The Bird could do it, too. Between his size and his pride and the violent streak his numerous scars indicated, he would be quite the vicious enemy. Her father wouldn’t stand a chance.

She would never want that, of course, but the realization sparked something within her. Peric would fight to protect her, and she would do the same for him. For a moment she simply gazed at Peric, wondering when the bond between them grew so deep.

Elphaba shook her head, snapping out of her thoughts before she was forced to consider them too much. “Come read this,” she said, moving to her desk and pulling out the letter. “I don’t know what else to tell him.”

Peric flew over to perch on the back of the desk chair. His eyes darted back and forth across the paper.

“I’ve told him everything I could do with the journal, and how I need help to continue his experiments, but I still feel like there’s something missing.”

Peric made a noise in the back of his throat. “What about Shiz?” he said slowly. “Tell him about everything that happened when he left. Like the headmistress—Morrible, right?—asking you and Glinda to be her assistants.”

Elphaba’s eyes darkened at the suggestion, but she nodded. “Right. He should know what Morrible’s up to.” She grabbed her pen and began scribbling out another paragraph at the bottom of the page. Peric watched her patiently, waiting for her to finish and sign her name.

“I think I may know where he is.”

The green girl froze, heart pounding. “You do?”

Peric nodded. “I was asking around today, and there were a few who told me he was near the outskirts of the Great Gillikin Forest. It would make sense. There are a few safe houses up there, not far from the railroad.”

“And you think you can find him?”

The Bird rolled his eyes. “I know my way around.”

Elphaba folded the letter and stuck it in an envelope. “How long will it take?”

“Two days? Three at the most. It would depend on where he is, and how long he takes to write back.”

She nodded and held out the letter for him. “Thank you, Peric.” She opened her mouth to say more, but then shut it again.

Peric, however, seemed to understand. He lowered his head as he took the letter. “Don’t worry. I know how important this is.”

Elphaba swallowed, following him as he flew to the window. “I swore I wouldn’t involve anyone else in this,” she said quietly. “Just…be careful.” Her lips turned up in a smirk as she added, “And watch out for steel traps.”

Peric lunged forward and nipped at her hair, tugging playfully. She swatted him away and jumped out of reach. The Bird clicked his beak as he unfolded his wings. “I’ll be fine, Fae. Try not to have too much fun here without me.”

“Oh, you know I will,” she deadpanned. She raised a hand and waved as he jumped out the window and disappeared into the dark sky. Once he was high enough to glide effortlessly, Peric looked back at the Colwen Grounds. He could just barely see the outline of his friend, sitting in her windowsill, staring broodingly out into the night.

Then he turned away, heading northwest toward Gillikin, where he would meet the most acclaimed scholar in modern society. _Finally_ , Peric thought _, I have a chance to make a difference in Oz._


	37. Chapter 37

Glinda pressed her foot to the ground, enjoying the crunch of the frost-covered grass. She gave a little push, sending the bench swing she was sitting on back into its gentle sway. The wood frame creaked around her and she shivered, twisting her hands into the blanket and pulling it higher on her shoulders.

The garden around her breathed quietly, bathed in silver light and shadows. Evergreen trees and short bushes spotted the area. Behind her was the grove of apple trees she used to climb as a child. To her left was an empty patch, where the strawberries—which she had picked out and planted herself nearly ten years ago—would resurface in the spring. And all around were rows and rows for flowers to bloom. Glinda could still feel the ground beneath her knees, the sun warming her back, the wet earth sliding through her fingers as she dug, planted, weeded, and watered the plants with Ama. She could hear the tugging of roots, or the trickle of water from the can. She could still picture the glow of the sun, radiating off the bright yellows and pinks and greens.

“Isn’t it a bit cold out here?”

And suddenly she was back in the present, the winter night pressing in on her, without the life of the garden in spring to keep her company.

“Not really,” she said in reply. She looked up as Ama Clutch came closer. She was dressed in a long, heavy nightgown and holding a thick shawl around her shoulders. The older woman looked at her for a moment, then glanced around the garden. She took in the shadowy trees and empty patches of earth before finally turning her gaze upward. Glinda watched as the stars seemed to reflect on her face.

After a long moment, Ama sighed. She stepped forward and sat down gently. The swing rocked with the added weight, and Glinda brought her foot up from the ground to tuck her leg beneath her.

“Alright, duckie,” Ama said quietly. “I think we need to talk.”

Glinda shifted the blanket around herself and stared at a pine tree that was around her height. “About what?” she asked innocently.

Ama raised an eyebrow. “You tell me.”

The blonde pressed her lips together, but then sighed, her shoulders sagging. “I just…I really miss Elphaba.” Her voice caught as she realized it was the first time she’d admitted it out loud. Suddenly her eyes stung and her throat tightened. “I miss her so much, and I’m so afraid that…”

Ama Clutch scooted over, holding out an arm and allowing Glinda to nestle in to her side. She sniffled and rested her head in the crook of Ama’s shoulder.

“What are you afraid of?” Ama asked softly, but the blonde just shook her head.

“I don’t know. I don’t know how to explain it.”

“Tell me about her.”

Glinda swallowed hard, remembering sitting in her room the day Dillamond had left and wanting nothing more than to hold her roommate again. Instead, she had settled for the words: _tell me about him, Elphie._

She shivered again.

“I already have,” she whispered, recalling the letters she’d been writing home all semester.

Ama chuckled under her breath. “Yes, well, you were a bit confusing. First she was a ‘green terror,’ but I don’t think that’s the Elphaba you miss.”

“No,” Glinda whispered, lips twitching the slightest bit.

“I’m curious,” Ama said, “When did it change? What happened to make you forget about the green?”

Glinda thought about it. “I didn’t forget about the green,” she said eventually. “I just…opened my eyes and realized it was beautiful.”

“Tell me about her,” Ama said once more.

This time, there was no hesitation. Once she started, Glinda couldn’t stop talking about Elphie—about her passion, her intensity, her mystery, her loyalty, her intelligence, her compassion, her empathy. She described how Elphaba would curl up in the corner or hunch over her desk, how she would scribble answers down in her notebook and wait before raising her hand, how she’d light up when she talked about history, how she could practically spark with fury and rage then turn around and pick Glinda up with all the gentle tenderness in the world.

Even after she finished speaking, her thoughts continued to swirl around Elphaba—the gold flecks in her eyes when she was excited, or the shadows that crossed her face when she put her walls up, and the way her hair flowed in waves over her shoulders on the rare occasions that she let it down, or how her slender body radiated warmth when she hugged Glinda…

“Glinda, honey?”

The blonde blinked, shaking her head slightly. She tilted her head to look up at Ama, who was gazing at her with an odd mix of concern and amusement. “I-I’m sorry. What?”

Ama Clutch smiled. “I mean it, duckie. Why don’t you write to her?”

“I…” Glinda’s mind reeled, searching for an excuse. “I don’t even know to get it to her.”

The older woman shrugged. “Don’t worry about that. Just do it. You miss her, she misses you. The only logical thing to do would be writing to her.”

“I…guess,” the blonde said slowly. _Could she really miss me?_ “If it would help.”

Ama Clutch pressed a kiss to her forehead. “I think it would. Now come on. I’ve got a kettle on and these old bones are telling me it’s about to snow any minute.”

Glinda allowed herself to be pulled to her feet. She adjusted the blanket one last time, feeling like a little girl, and snuggled in close to Ama. Together, they walked back inside and to the kitchen, where Ama took the whistling kettle off the fire and made them tea. They sat around the table and talked for a while until Glinda couldn’t keep her head up for more than a few seconds at a time. She hugged Ama goodnight and shuffled up to her room, the blanket still draped around her shoulders.

She managed to kick off her shoes before collapsing into bed and curling up, staring out the window. It was snowing, just like Ama had said, and the sight of the snowflakes glowing in the moonlight made her smile.

_Goodnight Elphie,_ Glinda thought, not sure if she had said it out loud or not.

She was asleep the minute her eyes slid shut.

 

***

 

Elphaba stopped pacing and looked out her window one last time. She was worried about Peric. She was dying to know what Dillamond would say. She was getting restless without the research. She missed Glinda more than ever, and she couldn’t help but wonder how close Peric was to her in this very instant.

But she couldn’t focus on any of that, because at that moment Nessa was waiting for her downstairs. So she pulled on her boots and forced herself to leave the bedroom. She left the window cracked open, even though it was far too early for Peric to return.

He had left only a day and a half ago, but already Elphaba was getting anxious. She was nervous and distracted, and the thought of eating lunch with Nessa only made things worse. Still, she made her way downstairs to the main hall, where her sister was waiting, a picnic basket on her lap.

Elphaba raised an eyebrow as she approached. “Planning a picnic?”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Nessa said, rolling her eyes. “There’s too much snow. But the back porch is covered. I thought it would be nice to get some fresh air.”

Elphaba continued to stare, waiting. Nessa shifted, her cheeks darkening ever so slightly. “And…no one ever goes back there.”

“That’s my Nessa,” the green girl said, moving to push the wheelchair down the hall. “Always planning ahead.”

The younger girl huffed, then tilted her head to look up at Elphaba. “Father is feeling better.”

“That’s good. We wouldn’t want him stumbling up to the altar before his sermons, now would we?”

“Elphaba.”

The green girl rolled her eyes, but stayed silent. Nessa sighed and tried again.

“Grandfather’s supposed to return tomorrow morning.”

“How lovely,” the older girl said. “His absence has been such an impact on our lives.”

“Elphaba!”

She gave a short laugh. “Really, Nessa, you should know better than to try making small talk with me.”

Nessa groaned. “ _How_ Miss Upland puts up with you at Shiz, I’ll never know.”

“Neither will I,” Elphaba said under her breath.

Nessarose pointed down a side hallway, and Elphaba followed her directions to a back corner that looked like it hadn’t been visited in years.

“Grandfather says that with just him and the servants living here, there’s no point keeping up with the entire place. Unless he’s hosting a huge event, there are many parts of the castle that remain untouched,” Nessa said.

“And you always thought travelling around all the time was lonely,” Elphaba said. “Imagine growing up here.”

“Many things would be different,” Nessarose agreed softly, and she sounded so lost in thought that Elphaba didn’t want to ask exactly what it was she meant.

They found the back porch. Through the giant planes of glass, they could see the snow starting to fall once more. The room was cold and it was slightly eerie, watching a form of water drift around her, but Elphaba took the basket from Nessa and settled down on the floor next to her. She handed a sandwich to her sister, then took one for herself and began to unwrap it.

“You know what I just don’t understand?” Nessa asked eventually.

“What?”

“What exactly you thought was going to happen. You knew you were next in line for the Eminency, and you knew you didn’t want it. How did you think all of this was going to unfold?”

“I…don’t know,” Elphaba admitted. “I never really allowed myself to think about it. I always just thought of our Grandfather as invincible. He’d live forever, and when he was gone, he would choose some other successor, one who had worked with him for years and knew what they were doing. I always thought that, since we had no real connection to him or this place, we’d never be bothered by it.”

Nessarose was silent for a moment. “That’s…uncharacteristically naïve of you.”

Elphaba pursed her lips, still gazing out into the yard. “You know, Mother never wanted this for us.”

“Sorry?”

“Mother. She never wanted us to be rulers. I heard her say once that she never wanted daughters. Only sons, so they wouldn’t have to deal with the Eminency.”

The younger Thropp pressed her fingers into her skirt. “I…never knew that.”

Elphaba sighed. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have mentioned her.”

“No!” Nessa cleared her throat. “I mean, no, I’m glad you did. What…Did you know why she felt that way?”

The green girl glanced up at her, then away again. “My guess is that she simply didn’t want it. She grew up here and ended up running away. Maybe she felt stifled. Maybe she just wasn’t meant for politics. All I know is she hated it here, and she never wanted us to be a part of it.”

“Not meant for politics…” Nessa murmured. “But she grew up around politics. It’s all she would have ever known.”

“Exactly,” Elphaba said with a shrug. “Really, can you blame her? Growing up around meetings and treaties and negotiations. It’s all too formal, too stiff. Instead of digging around in farms like the other Munchkinlanders, she was stuck in a life of sophistication.”

“You sound so offended by it. We grew up well-educated.”

“Yes, by our experiences and our travels! Not by some stuffy old man sitting us down and telling us _this_ is how the world is and _this_ is how we conform to it.”

“Is that what you’re afraid of?” Nessa asked softly. “Conforming?”

Elphaba shifted. “That’s part of it, yes.”

“And what else?”

She picked at the sandwich in front of her. “What about you?” she asked. “What are your thoughts?”

“You know my thoughts.”

“I know some of them.”

“Well, obviously, I want to do it.”

“Do you? Or does Father want you to?”

“I can think for myself,” Nessa said heatedly.

“I know. I’m just curious how much influence he’s had in all of this.”

Nessa sighed. “Shortly after you went off to school, he began talking about getting in touch with Grandfather. A few weeks later—and I wrote to you about this—he announced that Grandfather had invited us to move here. There was no talk of the Eminency then, not until we’d arrived and Grandfather asked about you. Father told him you never wanted to be the Eminent Thropp, and that instead you’d gone off to Shiz to study other subjects. That’s when Grandfather asked if you wanted to renounce your position. I told him we didn’t even know that was possible, and after he told us about it…well, I know Father started thinking about it a lot. And the more he talked about it, the more it made sense.” She hesitated, looking at her sister. “You have to admit it makes sense.”

_Of course it does,_ Elphaba thought. _But what doesn’t make sense is Father’s sudden interest in politics._

“Why does Father care in the first place?” she wondered aloud.

“He wants what’s best for us.”

Elphaba snorted. “Sure.”

“He _does_ ,” Nessa argued. “He wants what’s best for our family.”

“There’s more to it than that.”

“Oh, don’t start that again.”

Elphaba pursed her lips, resigning. She mulled over their conversation so far, wondering what to say next. “So you want this. You want, without any doubt or second-guessing, to be the next Eminent Thropp.”

Nessa hesitated. Elphaba turned toward her and raised an eyebrow. “Yes, of course,” the younger girl said. “Of course I want it.”

“But?”

She looked away. “But you obviously don’t want me to.”

Elphaba rolled her eyes. “Since when has that ever stopped you?”

“You don’t approve.”

“Technically I never said that. The only thing I’ve disapproved of is planning on cutting me out without telling me.”

“You don’t think I can do it.” As soon as she said it, Nessa clapped her hands over her mouth, staring wide-eyed at her sister. Elphaba stared back.

“I…Do you really think that?”

Nessa lowered her hands to speak over her fingertips. “Why else would you be so hesitant?”

“I’ve told you why!” Elphaba threw her arms up. “Mother never wanted us to be a part of this, and Father’s sudden interest in the Thropp line is suspicious. But never once have I thought you’d be incapable.”

Now Nessa sat up straight, gesturing angrily at herself. “Well why not? What part of me says the word _capable_?”

Her words hit Elphaba with a pang, and she had to take a deep breath to push away the queasy ache she suddenly felt. She climbed to her knees and knelt in front of her sister, reaching up and placing a firm hand on her shoulder. “Nessarose Thropp,” she said quietly. “You are more than capable. You are intelligent and clever. All the travelling in our childhood made you experienced and mature beyond your age. Your devout faith shows your passion and strength. Everything we have been through has helped you grow into someone who would be an extremely powerful ruler of Munchkinland. Do you understand me?”

“And yet,” Nessa said, her voice even softer. “You won’t give me the position.”

“Every instinct I have is telling me not to,” Elphaba whispered back. “And if I don’t want you to have this position, it’s only because I want to protect you, not because I don’t think you could handle it.”

“You don’t have to protect me.”

Elphaba smiled a little. “Maybe not, but I always have. And some things just don’t change.”

Nessa nodded. “I…I need to go pray. I haven’t yet today.” She wheeled herself around and headed for the door. But just before going back inside, she twisted and looked back. “Fabala?”

“Yes?”

“You wouldn’t be cut out. If you renounced your position, I mean. You’d still be my…I mean, I would still need you.”

Elphaba’s lips twitched up into a smirk. “Ever at your service,” she replied, giving a slight bow. Nessa rolled her eyes and turned away, but not before Elphaba caught a glimpse of her smile.


	38. Chapter 38

“Glinda, dear, would you pass those rolls?”

Glinda took the platter in front of her and handed it across the table to her mother.

“Here’s the butter, love,” her father said, handing the dish over and leaning in to peck Lady Upland on the cheek.

“Stop it,” Lady Upland said, fighting a smile as she took the butter. He leaned in further, nuzzling her face, and she swatted at him lightly. “Knock it off, you old fool.”

Glinda giggled, and her father kicked his leg a little to nudge her with his toes. “What are you laughing at?”

Ama looked up from her knitting and winked at Glinda.

The Upland family settled down and dug into their food. It was just barely noon on the Saturday before Lurlinemas, and it was the first time Glinda had the chance to sit down and eat with her parents since break started. She knew she should be enjoying herself, but she kept glancing anxiously out the window. The sky was too dark for midday, and the wind was picking up steadily. There would be a storm tonight, she was sure. The thought made her shiver.

“So Glinda, tell us more about your friends at Shiz,” her father said, drawing Glinda out of her worries. “We’ve barely had the chance to hear anything.”

“Oh. Well…” Glinda thought for a moment. “I…well, I met a few ladies right away and we got a long for a while, but we…ended up drifting apart.” It was as good an answer as any, since there was no way Glinda was going to tell her parents about how she’d become a social outcast at school.

“How come?” Lady Upland asked.

Glinda waved her hand. “I suppose that’s just how university is.”

“And what about that boy you told us about?” Her father asked, narrowing his eyes. Lady Upland perked up.

“Oh yes. The Winkie prince. Fiyero was his name, right?”

Glinda giggled at the scowl on her father’s face. “Don’t worry,” she said, putting a hand on his arm. “He’s just a friend.”

“But I thought…”

“We didn’t quite work out. But it’s alright, Mother. We’re still good friends. He hangs out with Elphie and I, and a few other boys.”

“Elphie?” Her mother questioned.

“E-Elphaba,” Glinda corrected herself, feeling heat rush to her cheeks. “My roommate.”

This time Ama didn’t look up from her knitting, but Glinda swore she saw the old woman smirk.

“You’re friends now?” Lord Upland asked. “Last we heard she was causing you a bit of trouble.”

The thought was so strange, it took Glinda a moment to respond. _And to think,_ she thought to herself, _I was so convinced I hated her._ “It was a little rough at the beginning of the semester. But we’re okay now.” _More than okay._ This time, she was certain Ama was fighting back a grin.

“That’s good,” her mother said. “And it’s good you’re still friends with that Fiyero. Messy breakups just cause unnecessary problems. But what about those girls you used to hang out with? Are you still on decent terms with them?”

Glinda picked up her glass and swirled the ice around. “I, uh, don’t see them around often anymore.” _If only._ “But I was never cruel to them.” _Except for in self-defense._ “I think we’d still get along well, if we ever saw each other.” _Okay, now that was a downright lie._

“Of course you would,” her father said, beaming. “Who wouldn’t get along with our little Glinda?”

She ducked her head, both to hide her blush and to blink away the sting in her eyes before her parents noticed.

“I think it’s time for pudding,” Ama declared, setting her needles and yarn down in the basket next to her chair. “Want to help me get the bowls, duckie?”

“Sure,” Glinda said, all too eager to escape the dining room. She followed Ama Clutch into the kitchen, wiping her eyes as soon as the door shut behind her. She would have been embarrassed if her parents saw her close to tears, but with just Ama in the room, she didn’t really mind.

 

***

 

Elphaba sat in the window, staring at the last golden streaks of sunlight on the horizon. By this hour most of the sky was dark and getting darker. Pretty soon she wouldn’t be able to see Peric flying toward the grounds, even if he were there.

Three days at the most, Peric had told her. Yet here she was, the sun disappearing at the end of the fourth day. She knew she shouldn’t be worried—he was more than capable of taking care of himself—but she couldn’t help but imagine every terrible thing that could have happened. Peric could have been injured, or caught by the Gale Force. He could have been followed to Dr. Dillamond, or a trap could have been set up.

What would happen if someone got a hold of her letter? What if that someone was the Wizard? Elphaba squeezed her eyes shut and tried not to picture green and gold clad soldiers marching up the road to the castle.

_Stop,_ she told herself. She had left nothing out of the letter because she knew she could trust Peric. At the very least, he would destroy it before he was caught. _And he won’t be caught._ The Bird was tough and resourceful, more so than anyone she knew. He would be okay.

Exhaling heavily, she pushed herself up from the windowsill and began to pace. She had been back and forth all day, staring outside, then pacing around the room, then staring, then pacing. It was a bitter cycle, and she knew it wasn’t helping anything. Still, as her bare feet padded against the cold floor, turning sharply every few paces, she could feel her mind settle the tiniest bit. At the very least, perhaps she would wear herself out enough to sleep tonight.

Her restlessness continued well into the night, long after the daylight was gone and Nessa had come by to bid her fresh dreams. _Maybe,_ she thought hours later as she collapsed, fully clothed, into her bed, _Just maybe he’ll be here when I wake up._

 

***

 

All Glinda wanted to do was sleep, but with the storm raging just outside her window, it was impossible.

Normally by this point, she would have managed to bury herself far enough into her covers that she could ignore the storm long enough for her exhaustion to take her. But tonight was especially bad. Thunder shook her entire room, rattling the furniture. Every time she risked opening her eyes, lightning split the sky, momentarily blinding her. Rain pelted her window, hammering against the glass and echoing in her ears. It was too much, and that was without seeing the wind bending trees over and snapping branches, or the rain slowly forming rivers through the ground, washing away the edges of the road…

Glinda whimpered and curled up tighter, throwing her arms up to cradle her head.

“Duckie?”

The door creaked open slowly and a warm light shone into the room. Ama Clutch crept softly to the bed and set her candle down on the nightstand. “Oh, sweetheart.” She put a hand on the blanket, trying to still Glinda’s shivering form. “It’s alright. Come here.”

Glinda kept her eyes closed and her teeth clenched. She barely noticed anything but the scream of thunder and rain. She hardly even registered Ama’s hands on her, pulling her out of the blanket and onto her lap.

“You know, duckie, if you weren’t the size of a Munchkin I wouldn’t be able to do this.”

The blonde tried to chuckle, but it came out as a half-choked sob. Ama held her closer. “It’s okay, Glinda. You’re safe here.”

“I-It’s not here I’m w-worried about,” Glinda managed to get out.

Ama stroked her hair back and pressed a kiss to the top of her head. “That was a long time ago, sweetie.”

“I’m sorry,” she whimpered.

“You don’t need to apologize,” Ama said gently. “How about we talk about something else, hm?”

“Like what?”

“Like how you snuck yourself an extra spoonful of pudding at lunch today. Don’t think I didn’t see you.”

This time she managed a half-giggle, half-hiccup. “I deserved it. I was upset.”

“Upset because you were lying to your parents?”

Glinda sighed. “It wasn’t lying.”

“But you weren’t being entirely honest, either.”

“No…”

Ama leaned back far enough to look at Glinda. “Come on, duckie. Tell me, what’s really going on with your friends?”

Glinda sniffed. “They’re not my friends. They’re rude and shallow and self-centered. Even when we did get along Pfannee only thought of herself, and Milla had no thoughts other than how other people saw her, and Shenshen had absolutely no mind of her own, always following the others around no matter how awful they were acting!” She took a breath. “But then…I was no different.”

Ama Clutch rubbed her back in slow, even strokes, waiting for her to go on. Glinda wrapped her arms around her waist and leaned into the comforting hand.

“But then…I don’t really know what happened. Pfannee and the others became too cruel to Elphaba, and I…I felt bad. So I did something nice for her, and she did something nice for me, and…”

Ama sensed her hesitancy. “The two of you became friends, eventually. I’m guessing the other girls didn’t like that?”

Glinda shook her head. “I’d seen them be awful to Elphaba. But I never thought…I never imagined they could be so cruel…I used to be the most popular girl in our class, Ama. I know that shouldn’t matter, but I liked it. I _liked_ people liking me. But now…now they all hate me.”

“Because you became friends with Elphaba?”

She blinked. “I…yes. Yes, because I’m friends with her.” She leaned back, looking up at Ama. “Do you realize how _stupid_ that is?” She laughed, as if realizing for the first time. “It’s so _stupid_! They hate me because I’m _friends_ with someone!”

Ama raised her eyebrows, but her lips quirked up into a smile.

“If they only knew,” Glinda continued, calming back down. “If they only _knew_ how wonderful she was. How caring and loyal. How _gentle_ she can be, if you let her. Even before we really got to know each other, she was kind to me. She—” Thunder crashed again, rattling the glass in her window. Glinda drew a sharp breath. “She’s the only one who knows,” she finished quietly.

“You told her?”

“Well, not really…” Glinda closed her eyes. She had started trembling again, but Ama wrapped her in a hug and held her tight. “It was storming one night, and we were sort of starting to act civil toward each other. I thought she would laugh at me, tease me mercilessly. But she didn’t. She…she actually _understood._ ”

“Does she know why?”

The blonde tensed. _She could feel the rain pelting her, the mud clinging to her, swallowing her as the weight on top of her pinned her to the ground. Lightning flashed, and she could hear her parents yelling, screaming for someone to help …_

“N-No,” she said, snapping back to the present. “No. I mean, she’s brilliant. She’s probably figured something out by now, but I never told her.”

Ama rubbed her back again. “Do you ever plan on telling her?”

Glinda stared out the window. She missed Elphaba now more than ever. “I don’t know,” she answered softly. “But if I ever did tell anyone, it would be her. I miss her so much, Ama.”

Ama Clutch smoothed her hair back. “I know, duckie. I know.”


	39. Chapter 39

It was still dark when Elphaba woke the next morning. She groaned and rubbed her face, feeling as if she hadn’t slept at all.

She propped herself up on her elbows and looked around the room. She was sure something had woken her, but what? Everything was still and dark. The window was open, but not wide enough for anything to get in.

Elphaba blinked a few times and rolled to her feet. She crossed to the window and leaned on her elbows, staring out. It was close to dawn—the stars had all but disappeared—but there was still no visible sign of the sunrise. At least, not on this side of the castle.

“Where are you?” she whispered, squinting hopelessly into the dark.

Elphaba rested her head in her hands and struggled to stay alert. If the sky was getting lighter, she couldn’t tell. She wasn’t even sure if she was completely awake…

“Fae.”

The green girl started, jumping back from the window. “Peric!”

He hopped into her room, ruffling his feathers. “Miss me?”

“Hell and Oz, Peric!” she hissed. “Where _were_ you?”

The Bird cocked his head. “I’ll take that as a yes.”

“Four days!” Elphaba crossed her arms over her chest. “You promised three, and you were gone four! What happened?”

“I thought I told you not to worry.”

“Peric!”

He flew across the room and dropped an envelope on her desk. Elphaba barely glanced at it, her gaze instead following him as he moved to perch on the foot of her bed. The Bird turned to stare at her, clicking his beak.

“There was a storm. I would’ve been back yesterday, but it was too bad to fly through. It started around midday where I was and moved west. I’m pretty sure it was covering most of Gillikin by nighttime. Other than that, nothing went wrong.”

Elphaba scowled at him for a moment longer, then let her shoulders relax. “You…found him?”

The Bird grinned. “He’s quite the friendly old Goat, isn’t he?”

The green girl sank into her desk chair. “You did. You actually found him.” She looked up. “How is he? Is he safe? Is he working, or is he just doing research? Is he alone? Is he moving around? What—”

“Fae.” Peric shifted his weight from one foot to the other. “Breathe.”

She exhaled. “I just…I’m glad he’s okay.”

“Understatement,” Peric muttered, earning himself a dirty glance. “What? If you’re so curious, just open the letter.”

Elphaba sat up straight. She had been so worried about Peric, she had almost forgotten how important Dillamond’s response was. She spun in her seat and snatched up the envelope, tearing it open. Peric flew to perch on the back of the chair and peered over her shoulder to read.

_First of all, I must say how proud I am of you. You’ve proven more dedicated and resourceful than ever before. We have more of a chance than I ever dared hope for, thanks to you._

_Now to business. I knew there would be a dead end somewhere in my journal. But if we’re in contact with each other, we might just be able to make it work. You said there were matters you didn’t quite understand. Write them all down, along with any questions you have, and send them with your next letter. I can explain them and send more of my notes back to you. I’m also working on writing down my procedures for the experiments, and I’ll send that next time as well._

_As far as textbooks go, I have no doubt you’ve found everything you could at the library. But the boys’ college is sure to have more, especially in the restricted sections. Something tells me you can figure out a way to get a hold of them. But please, be careful. From what you’ve told me, Morrible is going to be on the lookout. As much as I hate to say it, avoid asking any of the teachers for help. We don’t want word of any of this getting back to her._

_The fact that she asked you to be her assistant is troubling as well, although I have no idea what in Oz she could want. Perhaps it is just a chance to get closer to you, or merely an attempt to distract you. Either way, it’s a good thing Miss Glinda had her wits about her. She seems to have come a long way. Both of you have. Remember that, Elphaba. You’re going to need allies before this is all said and done._

_I fear that this is only the beginning. Whatever Morrible is planning, and whatever the Wizard is doing, it’s all just the start of something worse. Perhaps that’s just the paranoia of an old Goat talking, but something tells me otherwise. Keep an eye out, and guard this research carefully. Listen to your instincts—they’ll tell you who you can trust. You seem to be doing a good job so far._

_I’m planning on moving again. I’ve been staying in this safe house—as I’m sure young Master Peric has told you—for far too long. The company and the security are welcomed, but I have work to do. I will stay here until Peric finds me again, and by then I’ll have set up a way for him to find me while I’m travelling. I hope you understand if I don’t tell you where I am or where I’m headed. Don’t write our names in these letters, either. I doubt anything will happen, but precautions never hurt._

_Get back to me quickly. The sooner I can leave here, the better._

_Best of luck._

Elphaba flattened the letter against her desk. Her head was spinning, her mind processing all the information. Her fingers pressed into the paper, trying to memorize the way his words felt beneath her skin. There was still hope. They could do this. This amazing, groundbreaking research—they could pull it off. Relief flooded through her. This wasn’t a dead end.

“Just a road block,” she breathed.

“Sorry?”

She snatched up a pen and began digging around her desk for a blank sheet of paper. “I’ve got to respond. I’ve got to—where’s my book on chemical reactions?—Somewhere I wrote down everything I had questions on—there! Oz, there’s more than I thought. Okay, okay…Damn it, why didn’t I mark these in the books?”

“Fae?” Peric nipped at her braid. “Remember what I said about breathing?”

Elphaba spun in her chair to face him. Her eyes were shining, even in the shadowy room. “The sooner I write to him, the sooner I get answers, and the sooner we both can start working again. Do you understand what this means, Peric? This is the solution. This is the key to proving that Animals and humans are equal. This research, these experiments—they can change everything. We can’t waste any time. I have to—” She froze, clamping her mouth shut.

Footsteps echoed from down the hall, coming closer. “Your sister?” Peric asked quietly. Nessa was the only other Thropp he had seen; no one else came near Elphaba’s room.

“My sister can’t walk.” She swallowed, straining her ears to listen. The steps seemed too heavy to be her father’s, but if he was drunk and stumbling… “You need to leave.”

“But—”

Elphaba stood and began shoving papers and books out of sight. “Get out, before he sees you.”

Peric opened his mouth to protest, but Elphaba glared at him over her shoulder. He clicked his beak, frustrated. “I’ll be nearby,” he said shortly, unfolding his wings. “Come to the window if you need me.” And then he was gone.

Elphaba gripped the back of her chair and breathed in deeply. The sky was just starting to pale, making everything in her room shadowy and ghost-like. Slowly, she straightened and went over to the window. She was sure that if she looked hard enough, she could find Peric in one of the trees nearby. She didn’t look. She pulled the glass in and, for the first time since meeting the Bird, latched it shut. No matter what happened, she wouldn’t let Peric help.

She turned around to face the door just as the footsteps stopped. For one long moment, there was nothing but silence.

And then there was a knock.

Elphaba forced herself to take the few steps forward and turn the doorknob. Her face was set, ready for anything, but when she looked out into the hallway it wasn’t her father standing there, as she had expected. In fact, it was none other than the Eminent Thropp.

He stared at her, his face giving nothing away as she struggled to hide her shock. Then, finally, he cleared his throat. “I hoped you would be awake.”

“And if I wasn’t?” Elphaba asked. Something about the coolness of his tone set her off. She was immediately impatient, eager to be alone with her work and Dillamond’s letter again.

“I heard you talking.” This time, there was a hint of a question in his voice. The green girl scowled.

“I like to think out loud. It helps me process things.”

Her grandfather looked pained at that, but he quickly brushed it off. “Come with me.”

“Sorry?” She had no idea why he was outside her room in the first place, but this was completely unexpected.

“I’m going on a walk around the grounds, and I would enjoy it if you accompanied me.” When Elphaba hesitated, he stepped to the side and gestured for her to step into the hall. “This isn’t a request.”

There wasn’t really a warning in his tone—just authority, as if he didn’t need to state what would happen if she didn’t agree. Disobedience didn’t exist here. At least, not the direct kind. It was entirely too political, and Elphaba fought the urge to make a face, even as she grabbed her boots and coat. If she had ever wondered why her mother hated it here, this explained it.

The Eminent Thropp walked ahead of her, his boots clipping just enough to echo in the hallway. He moved swiftly, leading her around corners and down staircases until they were stepping through the front doors.

The snow had melted down to mostly mud and slush. Elphaba wrinkled her nose, but it was nothing she couldn’t handle. She was more concerned about the heavy fog that hung just above the ground. It didn’t exactly burn, but it made her skin itch ever so slightly. She pulled her coat closer and shoved her hands into the pockets. If her grandfather noticed, he didn’t say anything.

For a while, they just walked. Elphaba gazed out as far as she could, mesmerized by the misty hills and the occasional stark outline of a tree just tall enough to reach above the fog. The air was full of songbirds, chirping and cooing at each other. The sun wasn’t quite high enough to be seen, but it was barely dark anymore. Elphaba let her shoulders relax. She was hit with the familiar feeling of being up way too early—or way too late. Everything was so still and peaceful, as if she could feel the rest of the world still sleeping peacefully. It was exhilarating and calming at the same time, and just like the nights at Shiz when she was in the library until long past midnight, she reveled in the feeling.

She didn’t let herself get too distracted, though. She glanced at the Eminent Thropp beside her, wondering when he would start speaking. There was a reason she was out here, and she wanted to know why.

The Eminent seemed to know just where to walk to avoid the worst of the mud, and Elphaba wondered how many mornings he’d spent pacing through his property, mulling over the latest troubling business. They made their way through the grounds—between empty garden patches and bare trees, around small statues or memorial stones, near the stables and a small shack that, according to Nessa, used to be a weaponry. When Elphaba had asked what it was used for now, Nessa said she didn’t know, but the green girl had a sneaking suspicion that weapons still had something to do with it.

Finally, the Eminent seemed to shift, taking a breath and folding his hands behind his back. Elphaba kept staring ahead, waiting for him to speak.

“You know what this is about, don’t you?”

She nodded stiffly. Of course she knew what this was about. No one had talked to her about anything else since she arrived over two weeks ago.

“It is almost Lurlinemas,” the Eminent said. His voice was gravelly in the morning. Or maybe it was always like that. She hadn’t been around him enough to know. “You’ve put this decision off for weeks now, but your time is running out.”

“It’s been two weeks,” she replied evenly. “I think I deserve at least that, seeing as this decision will affect the rest of my life.”

“You don’t want this title.” It was stated so simply, so coldly. He kept walking forward as if nothing had happened, but it took all of Elphaba’s self-control not to jerk back as if she’d been hit.

“It’s not that simple,” she said once she’d regained her composure.

“Oh?” He turned to her and raised an eyebrow, but the exchange was brief. He faced ahead again, and Elphaba was almost convinced she’d imagined it. “Do enlighten me.”

There was condescension in his tone, and wave of frustration surged through the green girl. She stopped walking and glared, waiting for him to notice and turn around to face her. When he did, she raised an eyebrow and asked coolly, “If you think of me as a naïve child, why are you asking me to make such an important decision? Do not condescend to me. Do not patronize me, especially not when you want something from me. If you think I’m difficult now, keep talking down to me and we’ll see what happens.”

They stared at each other, and once again she was irritated by the fact that she couldn’t tell what he was thinking. However, something in his gaze seemed to soften, and his tone was somewhat less stiff as he turned and continued walking.

“Very well. You have your reasons for holding back on this decision, and I’d like to hear them.”

Elphaba kept pace beside him, wondering what his reaction to her next words was going to be. “My mother never wanted Nessa and I to be part of the Eminency.”

His chin lifted slightly, pulling his eyes out of sight. “Yes. I figured as much.”

She went on. “We have never been involved in politics. There was never a tie to the Thropp line, and my father always preached that power was an easy route to corruption. Eighteen years I grew up this way, just to come back after a few months and find that our lives are surrounded by politics, revolving around this decision. I think I have a right to be wary.”

“Your sister held no such reservations.”

“My sister shows her emotions differently than me. And she, at least, got an easy transition to this. I had the news thrown at me just a couple hours after I arrived.”

He paused, gazing down at her, and for a moment, she thought he was going to apologize.

But then he was walking away again, and she had to fight back her scowl. “You would be an excellent Eminent, I think,” he said. His chin was lifted slightly and his eyes gazed straight ahead, giving Elphaba the vague impression that he wasn’t quite speaking to her. “You’re certainly stubborn enough, and clever, and a distaste of politics doesn’t hurt either. But then again,” His eyes flicked to her face, ever so briefly, “I used to say the same thing about Melena. Look how that turned out.”

Despite having brought her up first, the sound of her mother’s name shocked Elphaba. She swallowed and clasped her fingers together behind her back. “It doesn’t matter how much potential someone has,” she said. “They’ll never be a successful ruler if they don’t want the position.”

“And yet…”

She sighed. “And yet.” She was going to say something else, but suddenly no words seemed to fit. She pressed her lips together and kept walking. The Eminent stared ahead and stayed silent, seemingly content to let the conversation hang unfinished around them.

Suddenly Elphaba’s boots hit concrete, and she looked around to find that they were back at the front steps of the castle. Her grandfather paused and turned, looking out over the grounds. The sun had mostly risen on the horizon, and everything it touched was bathed in dreary pale light. The air was crisp, exhilarating, even as Elphaba shivered in her thin coat. She looked her grandfather up and down, inspecting him just as she had the first time she saw him on these steps. His shoulders were still rigid, his chin held high, his hands folded neatly behind his back. The early morning shadows lingered on his face, making his wrinkles that much more defined. He seemed old, weary, frail, yet he held himself with dignity, as if he would never break. _Like the willow trees,_ her mother had said.

“The time to make your decision is running out.” He spoke sternly, yet his voice was softer than ever before. “However…I understand your hesitations, and I respect your wariness of the situation.” He looked over his shoulder and met her gaze. For the first time, Elphaba noticed that his eyes were the same exact shade as her own.

She nodded slowly, and that seemed to be enough of an answer for him. He turned back to the horizon and, after a brief moment of uncertainty, she left him there to hurry back inside.

Back to Dillamond’s letter.


	40. Chapter 40

“May I have this dance?”

Glinda smiled at the young man and took his hand. He beamed as he led her out to the middle of the floor. All around them, couples were spinning and swaying about. Ladies’ dresses twirled and gentlemen’s polished shoes clicked smartly against the hardwood. Somewhere on the far wall—the crowd was too thick for Glinda to see—the musicians her parents had hired were playing a sweet-sounding waltz. The air itself thrummed, alive with the music and chatter of over a hundred guests enjoying themselves on Lurlinemas Eve.

“You look lovely this evening,” the boy said, stopping and positioning them. He held her with respect: his hand rested high on her waist, and when he pulled her an inch or so closer it was with the utmost care and gentleness. She rested her free hand on his shoulder and lifted the other, wiggling her fingers beneath his. She could feel the sweat on his palm and resisted the urge to giggle.

“You’re dressed rather sharply yourself,” she replied with a smile. The compliment seemed to ease his nerves, and he stepped backward, pulling her into the dance. Glinda sighed contentedly and let herself be spun around the ballroom.

She hadn’t been lying—the young man _was_ handsome. The black suit jacket helped define his broad shoulders and fit torso. He was plenty taller than her, and his sandy hair hung in his bright, turquoise eyes as he smiled down at her. The hand on her waist was strong and, after he had relaxed, steady. Every move he made around her ringed with tenderness and adoration, and Glinda felt comfortable around him.

From the moment she’d stepped into the room nearly two hours ago, she had felt eyes on her. The dress she wore had been imported from the Emerald City. It was a deep, deep green, and the bodice was woven with gold silk. The material went just high enough to connect with the sleeves that hung low on her shoulders, leaving the top part of her chest and back bare. A gold and emerald necklace hung across her collarbone, and a set of matching earrings dangled from her ears. Her hair was twisted up into some elaborate, elegant bun, with a few strands hanging down, curled behind her jaw line. She had been showered with compliments all evening and part of her—the part that missed being in the spotlight—soaked it up.

But the other part of her, surprisingly enough, didn’t seem to care. She smiled genuinely and thanked whoever had admired her hair or her jewelry or her dress, but then she moved on. She knew she looked pretty tonight—she _felt_ pretty, whenever she smiled or laughed or danced with someone. Really, that was all she needed.

When the music ended, the young man bowed slightly and kissed the back of her hand. “Thank you, Miss Galinda.”

Glinda tensed, her dress suddenly hugging her chest way too tightly. “J-just Glinda, please,” she stammered before remembering to smile. “And thank _you._ ”

He said goodbye and left to ask another young lady to dance. Glinda fanned herself with her hand and ducked out of the middle of the floor, wanting nothing more than a chance to breathe. Her feet carried her to an empty corner of the room, but she didn’t stop there. She kept walking until she was pausing before a side door. After a quick glance around to make sure no one was watching her, she pulled it open and slipped through.

The hallway was dark, cool, and quiet. Glinda sighed in relief and continued on. She reached a hand out and let her fingers trail over the wall next to her, tracing her path away from the ballroom.

She paused for a moment, vaguely acknowledging how odd this was for her. Running from a party—especially the annual Lurlinemas Eve party her parents hosted for some of Gillikin’s most high class citizens—was something Galinda Upland would never do.

But then again, she wasn’t Galinda Upland. She hadn’t been for quite some time.

Glinda didn’t think about where she was going until she was already there, pushing open the giant library doors and letting them fall shut behind her with a gentle thud. She grabbed a sheet of paper and a pen from a nearby table and shuffled over to the large, unlit fireplace. She sank into a wide, plush chair and kicked off her heels. They landed a few feet away, bouncing off the floor with a satisfying clatter. She curled her legs up and tucked her feet beneath her. The dress puffed out slightly around her bent legs, and she ran her fingertips over the fabric, smoothing it down.

She twisted around and grabbed a book from the shelf behind her. She flattened the paper out on top of it and rolled the pen between her fingers, thinking.

_Dear Elphie,_ she wrote at the top of the page. She bit her lip uncertainly, then pressed the pen back to the paper.

_I miss you terribly._

Immediately her hand swept back and forth, crossing the words out. She scribbled them away until it would be impossible to tell what she had written, then tried again.

_Lurlinemas break has been wonderful so far. So relaxing! How is life at the Colwen Grounds?_

Her pen dug viciously into the paper again, scratching out her pathetic attempts at a letter. Taking a deep breath, she gripped the book harder and started once more.

_I’m sitting in the library—can you picture that? Me, alone in a library? I suppose I just miss you. My parents’ Lurlinemas Eve party is going on. My feet ache from dancing so much. More than a few handsome young men asked me to dance. It was fun, but one boy accidentally called me ‘Galinda.’ It’s not his fault, of course, but it upsets me all the same. I suppose I just miss being around people who know Glinda better than they know Galinda._

Glinda growled and balled the paper up in her fist. She twisted in her seat and threw it as hard as she could into the empty hearth. The book slid from her lap and fell to the ground, but she hardly noticed. She just buried her face in her hands and focused on breathing evenly.

To be completely honest, Glinda had no idea what was wrong. Sure, she missed Elphaba, but other than that Lurlinemas break was going wonderfully. She had thought maybe it was just boredom, and the party would fix everything, but it was clear now that she had been wrong. It had started out fun, but now she was ready to collapse into her bed and be done with it all.

She lifted her head and dabbed half-heartedly at her eyes. “Oh, Oz damn it all,” she muttered, reaching back and pulling the pins from her hair so that it fell in loose waves over her shoulders. She dug her fingers into her scalp and massaged away the ache of the tight bun. Her eyes slid shut and she gave up trying to fight it. Slumping back in the chair, she let her mind be overcome with thoughts of Elphaba.

She could practically picture the green girl beside her, staring in awe at the endless shelves of books that surrounded them. Her skin would glow in the silver moonlight that drifted in through the window, and her eyes would be shining the way they did when it was just the two of them. She would reach up and run those slender fingers over the dusty spines of books, muttering their titles under her breath. Perhaps she would grab one or two, pulling them out and flipping through them eagerly, reading passages out loud to Glinda. And the blonde would hang on to every word, soaking in the light that shone from Elphaba whenever she was this excited.

Glinda pressed her fingers to her temples and tried to rub away the pressure of held back tears. She imagined what Elphaba might be doing at that moment. Not celebrating, of course. In fact, she was probably holed up in her room or some other corner of the Colwen Grounds, avoiding her family. Worry tugged at her chest as she thought of Elphaba’s family, particularly her father, and what could possibly be happening in the Thropp household.

_But she can handle it,_ Glinda reminded herself. _She’s probably got her nose stuck in a book right now._ The mental picture was all too familiar: Elphaba curled into a tight ball of gangly green limbs, clutching a book to her face, tuning out the rest of Oz as her eyes darted across the page. What would she be reading? Some old history textbook, or a life sciences paper, or maybe that old journal she carried around everywhere.

Glinda’s eyes opened, but she couldn’t quite see the dark library around her. Instead she saw an empty courtyard, the Gale Force and Dillamond marching away, Elphaba collapsed on the ground in front of her…

What was in that journal? She had asked once if it was Dr. Dillamond’s, and Elphaba’s sharp reply was all the answer she needed. But why had the old Goat left it here? Why did he want Elphaba to have it? What could she possibly do with it that he couldn’t?

The journal had disappeared the last few weeks of school, when Elphaba was too busy with finals to work on anything else, and Glinda had all but forgotten about it. But now that exams were over, she was certain Elphaba was back to digging through Dillamond’s notes. What she was trying to accomplish, however, was beyond the blonde. And somehow, Glinda was certain that if she asked about it, she would never find out.

Where was Dr. Dillamond now? Glinda hoped he wasn’t alone, and that he had somewhere safe and warm to spend Lurlinemas. She thought about the Animal-free party taking place just a few halls away, and how not a single Animal had stepped foot in her house since she was a little girl. Her stomach twisted as she realized her home was as prejudiced as the rest of Oz.

Yet, it wasn’t as if her parents had deliberately uninvited the Animals. They weren’t bad people. They had just…gone along with the rest of society. Glinda rubbed her forehead and let out a breath. She had learned a lot from her time at Shiz and from Elphaba. She just hadn’t realized that the knowledge would cause her to see her own home differently.

And now she felt lonelier than ever. She curled up tighter in her chair and let the cool, silent air of the library wash over her. Maybe she should go find Ama Clutch, who was probably in the kitchen or in her bedroom, sipping at a cup of hot tea and knitting away. But she couldn’t even summon the energy to get up from her chair, so she settled for just staying put.

In the morning, she would put on a brave face and celebrate Lurlinemas with her family. In the morning, she would be truly grateful for her parents and her Ama and all the other parts of her rich, luxurious life. In the morning, she would go back to being the smiling, dazzling daughter her mother and father expected to see. And really, things could have been much worse.

But for tonight—as she sat alone in a room she never would have stepped foot in had it not been for the peculiar green girl she had met a few months ago—Glinda Upland didn’t have to do anything but miss her Elphie.


	41. Chapter 41

“Are you sure about this?”

The green girl rolled her eyes. “Would you like me to write down all my reasons for you?”

Peric flapped his wings and snapped his beak but didn’t say anything. Elphaba finished folding her letter and reached for an envelope.

“I’m sure, Peric. Honestly, I think I knew what I would decide all along. I just needed to make sure it was the right decision.”

“And is it?”

Her eyes darkened. “As far as I can tell, yes. But I suppose there’s no way of knowing until it’s too late.” She sealed the envelope and held it out for the Bird. He cocked his head to the side, peering at her.

“Are you sure you don’t want me to wait until you tell them? If something happens…”

“Nothing’s going to happen,” she said confidently. “Besides, you heard Dr. Dillamond. The sooner we get this to him, the better. And it’s been almost a week since I got his response. We’ve wasted enough time as it is.”

Peric took the letter and shook his head. “You know, maybe this decision is a good thing. Unelected officials aren’t allowed to conduct illegal research.”

Elphaba grinned. “You said it yourself, Peric. A lot could happen here at the Colwen Grounds, and the Wizard would never know about it.”

“That’s what we’re counting on.” He unfolded his wings and hopped to the windowsill. “Good luck, Fae.”

“You too. And don’t worry. I’ll tell you all about it when you get back,” she said, rolling her eyes once more. She leaned against the window as he took off and watched him as he grew smaller and smaller, fading into the early evening sky. She stayed there long after he had disappeared, putting off the moment when she would have to shrug away from the wall and face the rest of the household.

_Might as well get this over with,_ she thought to herself eventually. Leaving the window open, she turned away and headed to Nessa’s room.

“Come in,” the youngest Thropp called when Elphaba knocked lightly on the door. Nessarose was sitting near her bed, head bowed over the old prayer book in her lap.

“Am I interrupting?” Elphaba asked quietly.

Nessa marked her spot and shut the book. “Not really. What is it?”

“Is the Eminent Thropp busy at the moment?”

She shook her head. “I don’t believe so. Elphaba, what’s going on?”

Instead of answering, she crossed the room and gripped the back of Nessa’s chair. The sisters stayed silent as Elphaba made her way through the castle. Out of the corner of her vision she could see Nessa tilting her head to glance up at her, but she ignored it. Elphaba hesitated only for a moment outside the Eminent’s office before raising her hand to knock.

“Enter.”

Elphaba opened the door and pushed Nessarose inside. “May we interrupt?”

Peerless Thropp, the Eminent, her grandfather—gazed steadily at her, pushing aside a small stack of papers. “You may. Is this something your father should be here for?”

Elphaba closed the door behind her. “Our father is a minister. He has no part in political proceedings.”

Nessa shifted in her chair as if to turn around, but then stopped herself. Once again, Elphaba ignored her.

The Eminent nodded. “Very well.”

Nessa wheeled herself around and backed up against a wall so she could see both of them. The Eminent gestured at Elphaba to continue. Despite the confidence in her decision, Elphaba felt her stomach flip.

“I want to renounce my status as Third Thropp Descending.” She heard Nessa let out a breath, and the Eminent raised an eyebrow. She went on, “My inheritance of the title Eminent Thropp will fall to Nessarose, and she will be the next ruler of Munchkinland…Unnamed God willing.”

She wasn’t sure where that last bit had come from, but one look at Nessa—her eyes shining, her fingers trembling over her mouth—told her that it was the right thing to say.

Her grandfather reached into a drawer and pulled out a few papers. “You are willing to commit that to writing?” he asked.

Elphaba nodded. “Yes.”

“You are willing to sign the documents that will release you from your title?”

“Yes.”

“You understand that, by doing this, you become just another member of the Thropp family, still expected to uphold the responsibilities of a governing family while remaining under the authority of the Eminent?”

A chill ran down Elphaba’s back. “Yes.”

He slid a paper across the desk. “Your signature at the bottom, please.”

She read and signed all the papers, then took the blank sheet he handed her and wrote her formal statement:

_I, Elphaba Thropp, do hereby renounce my status as Third Thropp Descending, giving my inheritance of the title and position Eminent Thropp to Nessarose Thropp, making her the next in line to rule Munchkinland._

“It is official,” the Eminent said when she handed him the paper. “These documents are legal and binding. This issue is now and forever resolved.” His gaze and tone softened. “I assume you will tell your father yourself?”

Elphaba met Nessa’s eyes, but there was too much there to tell what she was thinking. “Yes.”

“Very well,” their grandfather said. “I will see you two at dinner. And Elphaba?”

Nessa hesitated, then wheeled herself toward the door and out of the room. The Eminent waited for her to leave before looking up at Elphaba. Something close to a smile pulled faintly at his lips.

“For what it’s worth, I believe you’ve made the right choice. Nessarose will do well.”

“I didn’t just do it for Nessa,” Elphaba said. “I didn’t do it to please my father, or so that Munchkinland would have the best ruler. I didn’t even do it so I could be free of the title. I did it for all those reasons, and many more.”

“I know,” her grandfather said. “That’s why I believe you made the right choice.” Elphaba’s eyes widened, but he simply went back to his papers, clearly dismissing her.

Nessa was waiting down the hall, pushing her chair back and forth. “Why did you do it?” she asked as Elphaba approached.

The green girl raised an eyebrow. “Really? You spend nearly three weeks pressuring me to do this, then you question my decision?”

The younger girl bit her cheek and looked away. “I just…” Her eyes darted up to meet Elphaba’s. “Thank you, Fabala.”

She didn’t quite know what to say, so she just waved her hand. “Don’t thank me yet, Nessa. You’re the one that has to learn how to be a politician now.”

Her sister shifted in her chair. “Yes, well, that’s part of the reason we moved here in the first place.”

Elphaba shrugged. “I figured that. Now, do you know where Father is? I have some news to give him.”

“On the northeastern balcony, probably,” she answered. “He likes to pray there. But Elphaba…” Nessa reached out and grabbed her arm before she could start walking away. For a second, she looked like she was gathering her courage. But then her hand fell to her lap and all she said was a mumbled, “Good luck.”

Elphaba nodded and squeezed her shoulder as she passed.

She made her way to the northeastern balcony and, sure enough, her father was standing outside, leaning against the rail. His shoulders were hunched and his head was bowed, but his hands hung loosely out in the air instead of being folded neatly together. Elphaba hesitated a moment, hovering just inside the doors that separated them. Her hand trembled as she reached for the ornate handle and gently swung it open.

A rush of cold air hit her, immediately tugging chunks of hair out of her braid. She closed the door behind her and took a few steps forward. If Frexspar noticed her presence, he gave no indication. She spoke to his back, raising her voice to be heard over the wind.

“I made my decision.” No reaction. “Nessarose and I went in just now, and I signed all the papers. The position is hers.”

Her father shifted, angling his shoulders toward her and turning his head so that he was almost, but not quite, facing her. “So you’ve finally stopped this foolishness.”

Elphaba stepped up to the rail and leaned against it, keeping a good five or six feet between them. “The only foolish thing would be to make this decision without giving it any thought. I had my reasons for hesitating, and both Nessa and the Eminent respect them. Why can’t you?”

He stayed silent, turning away from her to look out across the grounds again. Elphaba gripped the freezing metal beneath her hands until her knuckles turned white. Then she let go and faced her father.

“There’s another reason I came out here.”

“Oh? And what might that be?”

“You haven’t won, Father. I may have made the choice you wanted, but that doesn’t mean I’m clueless. I know you, and I know every plan you’ve ever had that involves me was made to harm me.”

“I am only trying to do what’s best for Nessarose,” Frex replied evenly.

“So am I,” Elphaba said. “And I’m not going to abandon her, especially now that she has to take on the Eminency.” Her voice dropped, low and lined with a warning. “You have ulterior motives. Nessa may not admit it or even realize it, but I know better. I don’t know what you’re up to, but don’t think that this decision means you can get away with it.”

He didn’t offer a response. He didn’t even look up to see the glare she was giving him, and after a long silence she turned on her heel and left the balcony.

“I am only trying to do what’s best for Nessarose,” he said again, reaching into his coat. He pulled out an old, faded photo and looked down at it. He was facing the camera, his hand resting on the shoulder of a ten-year-old Nessa. On Nessa’s other side knelt Elphaba. The green girl had scowled at the camera all day, but the photographer had managed to sneak a shot of her gazing warmly at her sister.

Frex gripped the photo and in one quick, violent motion, Elphaba’s side of the picture was gone. He crumpled it up and tossed it over the edge of the balcony, not even bothering to watch it flutter down to the mud and slush two stories below. With a smile, he folded up the part with him and Nessa and tucked it back into his pocket.


	42. Chapter 42

Glinda collapsed onto her bed and looked around the room, admiring her work. Boxes and bags covered her floor, most of them stuffed full and wrestled shut already. Glinda bounced up and down for a moment, barely able to contain her excitement.

“Knock, knock.” Ama nudged the door open and walked in. She was carrying a tray of tea and cookies, and her knitting bag hung from her elbow. Her eyes widened a little as she surveyed the room. “Glinda, dear, you do realize that your train doesn’t leave for another five days, right?”

The blonde giggled. “I’m just excited, Ama.”

“I can see that.” She placed the tray on the table by the bed and sat down. “And what, exactly, do you plan on wearing for the rest of break?”

Glinda pointed to her closet, where she had picked and laid out five outfits.

“Of course,” Ama said, pulling out her needles. “How silly of me. Though I have to say, duckie, I’m surprised. When you left last summer, you waited until the night before to pack. And then you begged me and everyone else you could find to help you.”

The blonde shrugged. “Like I said, I’m excited. I want to get back to Shiz. That’s all.” She finished with another shrug, turning her head away to hide her blush.

Ama clucked her tongue, giving her a knowing look. “Yes. I’m sure _that’s all_.”

Glinda blinked rapidly and cleared her throat. “Uh, anyway…what are you knitting, Ama?”

But the old woman simply shook her head, biting back a chuckle. “It’s a surprise. Now eat those cookies, before they cool off.”

She giggled again. “Yes, ma’am.”

 

***

 

The next five days passed slowly, each one beginning with Glinda putting on a new outfit and packing the old one away. She followed Ama Clutch around the house, helping with chores and keeping her company. She went out with her friends once more, giggling the afternoon away at a café in town. She had one last dinner with her parents, where they told her how proud they were and how much they would miss her.

And finally, _finally_ , she woke up one morning and pulled the last outfit out of her closet.

Her parents were waiting as she practically skipped down the stairs an hour later, holding her last bag to her chest.

“Are you sure you have everything?” her father asked.

“It’s all in the carriage,” she answered, turning to hug her mother.

“We’ll miss you, darling,” her mother said.

“I’ll miss you, too,” Glinda said, standing on her toes to wrap her arms around her father. “I’ll write to you soon.”

Lord Upland kissed her on the cheek. “We can’t wait. Now go on, before that carriage leaves you behind.”

Glinda giggled and gave them one last wave goodbye before hurrying out the door to the carriage. Ama was holding the door open for her. “Come on, come on, duckie,” she said, ushering her inside the carriage with a grin. “These old bones can’t take much more of this cold.”

Despite her excitement, the ride to the train station was much too short for Glinda. She and Ama talked and laughed all the way up until they were standing on the platform, Glinda’s bags already loaded onto the train.

Ama pulled her into a hug and kissed her forehead. “Be good, duckie,” she said. Then she pulled back and pushed something thick and black into Glinda’s hands.

“What’s this?” the blonde asked, looking down.

“Well,” Ama said, a hint of playfulness in her voice, “From what I’ve heard, your Elphie won’t accept things bought for her. So I made something instead.”

Glinda unfolded the object. It was a scarf, warm and fluffy and clearly hand knit. She remembered the yarn and needles Ama had carried around for the past couple of weeks and smiled.

“Thank you, Ama.”

“You be good to that one,” Ama Clutch said seriously. “The two of you have something special, you know. Don’t let that slip away.”

Glinda blushed furiously and clutched the scarf to her chest. Ama smiled and pulled her close to kiss her forehead again. “Have a good semester, Glinda. And don’t forget to write!”

“I won’t,” Glinda promised. Ama gave her hand a squeeze and nudged her toward the train. Glinda let her go and stepped onboard, making her way to her car. Once she sat down she leaned forward to look out the window. The train whistle blared and she could feel it start to inch forward, but then she caught of Ama.

The old woman raised her hand and gave a little wave, winking as she did so. Glinda grinned and waved back, blowing her a kiss.

She settled back in her seat as the train pulled out of the station and began picking up speed. The scarf was still in her hands. She looked down at it. She could almost see the love and tenderness Ama had put into the knitting. It smelled like her, too.

_Your Elphie,_ Ama had said. The thought made Glinda blush madly again, and she pulled the scarf closer. The words were impossibly sweet, and they left a pleasant feeling in her chest and stomach whenever she thought them. So she closed her eyes and repeated them, over and over again, as her train sped through Gillikin, taking her back to Shiz University.

 

***

 

For Elphaba, the last few days of break seemed to pass in a series of moments, all seemingly unrelated, stringed together to form her last week at the Colwen Grounds.

One such moment was the night Peric returned with Dillamond’s reply, three days before the green girl was supposed to leave.

“Fae? Before you read that…”

Elphaba set the letter down on her desk and turned toward him. “Yes?”

The Bird ducked his head a little, folding and unfolding his wings. “Remember when I told you I had originally planned to spend Lurlinemas in the Emerald City?”

The green girl sat on the edge of her bed, trying to decipher the tone of his voice. “Yes,” she said slowly.

Peric lifted one leg and scratched the stone windowsill beneath him. “Well, I…I talked a lot with Dillamond last night. And I…I think it’s time I go there.”

Elphaba closed her eyes and breathed in. “What are you going to do there?”

He clicked his beak softly, but offered no reply. Elphaba screwed her eyes shut tighter. “And the letters?”

“Dillamond figured it out. He said to just work on this for now, and he’ll send you another letter after you’re back at Shiz.”

Her throat tightened, but she swallowed hard and forced herself to open her eyes. “When are you leaving?”

“Tonight.” He jumped up from the window and glided over to perch at the foot of her bed. He craned his neck down and nipped at her braid. “I won’t make any promises, Fae, but I think we’ll see each other again.”

“Oh, so you’re _not_ trying to get rid of me.” The teasing in her voice was forced, but they both pretended not to notice.

“Take care of yourself, Fae. Since I won’t be around to claw anyone’s eyes out for you.”

She gave a weak laugh. “Yeah. You too. Watch out for those steel traps.”

He shook his head and went back to the window. He unfolded his wings to take off, but then looked back over his shoulder. Elphaba met his beady, intelligent eyes, but neither of them spoke. After a few seconds, he turned away and leapt off the windowsill, taking off into the night.

Elphaba turned away from the window, her eyes falling to the unopened letter on her desk. She strode over and tore it open. Just as he promised, Dillamond had written back with answers and explanations and references to all of her questions. Elphaba sank into her desk chair and reached for a pen. At the very least, Dr. Dillamond’s research would always be there for her to turn to.

 

***

 

Frexspar packed a bag the night before Elphaba’s last day at the grounds, announcing that he was off to give a sermon and wouldn’t be back for a few days. He didn’t meet Elphaba’s eyes as he said it, nor did he tell her goodbye. He simply kissed Nessa’s forehead and went on his way.

“Elphaba?” Nessa had asked uncertainly, but the green girl merely shrugged.

“Father and I aren’t ones for emotional goodbyes, anyway,” she said casually. Yet she couldn’t help but wonder what it would feel like to be missed.

 

***

 

She and Nessa returned to the back porch, eating lunch together one last time.

“So is this where you tell me how much you’ll miss me?” Elphaba asked, the corner of her mouth lifted into a smirk.

“Probably not,” Nessa said, concentrating on her sandwich. “But I’ll tell you to try not to wreak any havoc.”

“Well one of us has to cause some sort of commotion,” Elphaba replied, grinning. “And since you’re a public figure now, I suppose the responsibility falls to me.”

Nessa rolled her eyes. “You’re going to give me a bad reputation long before I even become the Eminent. I guess my only hope is that Miss Glinda can keep you reigned in.”

Elphaba felt her cheeks burn, but she smirked even wider as she replied. “Maybe I’ll just have to corrupt Glinda, then, and she can wreak havoc with me.”

Nessa let out a short laugh. “Shiz would be in for it, then. If she’s managed to turn you into a somewhat civilized person at school, I can only imagine the trouble you two can cause if she teams up with you.”

_You’re going to need allies,_ Dillamond had said. Elphaba kept blushing dark green, but the only thing Nessa noticed was that she seemed quite pleased.

 

***

 

The day she left the Colwen Grounds, she ate a quiet brunch with Nessa and the Eminent. They both walked her out to the waiting carriage where Viko, the driver that brought her here, tipped his hat and greeted her with a smile.

Nessa gave a brief, stoic goodbye, and she made Elphaba promise to write. Then she wheeled herself back inside, her head tilted in prayer or sadness—Elphaba couldn’t tell.

The Eminent Thropp was still there, to Elphaba’s vague surprise. He cleared his throat and stepped forward, reaching into his pocket to pull out a small bag and toss it to her. She looked down in surprise. It was a coin purse.

“I know your father didn’t fund you properly last semester,” the Eminent said with a wink. Then, slowly, the smile faded from his face. “You remind me so much of her, sometimes…”

Elphaba’s mouth was open to argue, to force the money back on him, but she promptly shut it. She looked at him and saw, for the first time, a man who had lost his daughter. With a slight nod, she pocketed the purse. “Thank you.”

His face was blank again. He raised a hand in a dismissive sort of wave, nodded quickly at Viko, then turned around and made his way back inside.

“Are you ready, Miss Elphaba?” Viko said, hopping onto the driver’s bench and taking the reins. “It’s a long ride. We’ll stop near the border to change carriages, but I’ll be driving the whole way. We should get there sometime tomorrow afternoon.”

She stepped up and closed the door behind her. She settled into a corner of the cab and curled up so that she faced away from the window. “I’m ready, Master Viko. Take me back to Shiz.”

 

***

 

The sun was starting to dip down into the horizon by the time Elphaba arrived at campus. Her leg was bouncing from the moment the school came into view, and she knew it wasn’t due to sitting in the carriage for an entire day.

Viko offered to help her with her bags, but she waved him off. She only had a couple of things, and she was far too eager to wait for anyone else. She thanked Viko and handed him a few coins. He tipped his hat once more and hopped back onto the carriage.

As soon as he was on his way, Elphaba grabbed her luggage and made her way to Crage Hall. Already the sight of iron gates and ivy-clad buildings was relaxing her. She could see the lake in the distance. She could hear boys shouting and running about, no doubt flinging snow at one another. She heard the unmistakable laughter of Crope and Tibbett, and grinned at the thought of them chasing each other around campus again.

And then she was in Crage Hall, following the path she knew by heart. The building was full of the sounds of girls reuniting—squealing and hugging and running off to each other’s rooms to catch up on all the gossip they had missed. Glinda would be here by now, her suitcases half-exploded across her side of the room, the bathroom counter already covered in her makeup and perfumes. Elphaba would walk in and she would smile apologetically before launching into some story about Frottica, and it would be a struggle for Elphaba not to beam down at her…

She pulled out her key and unlocked the door to her room, but to her surprise, it was empty.

Elphaba stepped inside and shut the door behind her. She let her bags drop onto her bed. It was chilly and the air was stale. Glinda’s side of the room was bare. Her bedding was untouched. Her desk was cleared off. Her wardrobe hung open, only half full. There were no suitcases, no shoes scattered on the floor, and there was certainly no bubbly blonde. Trying to ignore the sudden emptiness of her chest, she grabbed her book bag and turned toward her desk, intent on unpacking.

But something was wrong. Elphaba stopped short, staring at her desk. She had left papers and journals and books out, so of course it was a mess. But this was…different. Things weren’t the way she left them. Her notebooks were closed, when she almost always left them open to the page she had been writing in. Her papers were lying loose, when she was certain she had tucked them beneath books to hold them in place. As she stepped closer, her foot kicked a pen that had fallen to the ground, but she was sure she had placed them in the books to mark her pages.

Her bag dropped to the floor and she walked up to the desk. A drawer was hanging slightly open. The lamp had been moved a little to the right. She picked up her papers and began searching through them. Nothing was missing. Nothing had been written on or crossed out. Everything was here and intact, it was just…different. Someone had been searching through it.

Elphaba’s blood ran cold. _Morrible,_ she thought, torn between immense rage and complete terror. There was only one reason why the headmistress would break into her room and search through her work. Her knees trembled beneath her, and she was overwhelmingly glad that she had brought Dillamond’s research home with her.

Her fingers curled into fists and her shoulders tensed up. She _knew_ the old hag was up to something. And even if Morrible couldn’t find anything this time, she would be back. She would plan something else, try another way, find something else that could get to the green girl. She would—

Elphaba’s racing thoughts were suddenly cut off as the door creaked open behind her.


	43. Chapter 43

Elphaba tried to spin around, but she was rooted to the spot. Her blood felt frozen in her veins. Her muscles locked in place, braced for whatever was coming. She tried to face whoever was watching her from the doorway, but all she could manage was a quarter of a turn before something crashed into her, shoving her back into the desk.

" _Elphie!_ "

Glinda threw her arms around Elphaba's neck and clung to her. She inhaled the earthy scent of the green girl's oils, burying her face into her roommate's shoulder. "I missed you so much," she said softly, pulling back to look at her.

Elphaba's voice caught in her throat. Too late, Glinda noticed that the green girl was trembling. She could suddenly feel the tension in Elphaba's shoulders. She could see the panic slowly fading from her eyes. "Elphie? What's wrong?"

The green girl pulled away from her and went to shut the door. "Nothing. You just startled me." There was a tremor to her voice and she tilted her face away from Glinda as she spoke.

Glinda watched her. "You don't startle that easily."

"I do when tiny blondes tackle me from behind."

She stepped forward and put a hand on Elphaba's arm, just above her elbow. "Then why are you still shaking?"

Elphaba pulled away and went back to her desk. "I told you, it's nothing." Glinda followed and grabbed her shoulders, forcing her to turn around.

"Look at me, Elphaba." She waited until the dark eyes met hers. "I did not spend the past month missing you like crazy just for you to lie to me the minute we see each other again. Now tell me what's going on."

Elphaba's eyes widened and it took her a moment to gather her thoughts. "I…it's not a big deal. Nothing happened."

"I don't buy that, not for a second."

The green girl's eyes darted over to the desk beside them, then back up to Glinda's face. "Someone was searching through my stuff," she muttered. She twisted out of the blonde's grasp and started shuffling through the endless stacks of work on her desk.

Glinda was still for a moment. "They…went through your desk? But why? What would they…" Realization hit, and she looked up at Elphaba, not bothering to contain her horror. "Dillamond's research. Madame Morrible."

She could have sworn she saw the green girl flinch, but a second later her face was as composed as ever. "She didn't find anything. I took it all with me. But…"

"But this isn't the end." Glinda's voice was hardly more than a whisper. "First she wanted you as an assistant, then she searched the room. She's not going to give up anytime soon, is she? But I don't understand. How does she know you have…?"

Elphaba shrugged. "It's not that hard to guess. I was close to him, and we were the last ones with him the day he…" She trailed off, her thoughts taking over where her voice had ended.

Glinda watched her roommates eyes cloud over and a shadow cross her face. She reached up and put a hand on the green girl's shoulder, sweeping it down to run through her hair and rub her back. "Elphie? Hey, are you still with me?"

Elphaba blinked. "Sorry. Just…thinking."

"And classes haven't even started yet." Glinda tried for a smile and was rewarded with a weak yet genuine return. She grew serious again. "You worry me sometimes, Elphaba."

The green girl tilted her head. "What do you mean?"

Glinda studied her for a moment, staring intently. Her forehead scrunched slightly and her lips pressed together, but she remained silent. Elphaba met her gaze, but for once, she had no idea what the blonde was thinking.

Finally Glinda shook her head, her lips curling into a slight smile that didn't at all match the look in her eyes. "You just do."

Elphaba hesitated, then reached behind and grabbed the hand that was still rubbing circles across her back. "You…missed me?"

The blonde rolled her eyes. "Of course I did. Do you realize how _boring_ life is without a mean green thing around?"

"Mean?" Elphaba scoffed. "If you want me to be mean, I can bewitch your closet again, ruin all your outfits."

Glinda snorted. "Bewitch? Please, I know you used sticking solution. I found the jar forever ago."

Elphaba's eyes widened. "I…well, okay then." The blonde giggled, and Elphaba gave her fingers a squeeze. "I missed you, too. A lot." Her voice came out lower and rougher than usual as she thought of the last four weeks: the Eminency, her father, Dillamond's letters, Peric crashing into her life, only to vanish into the night without any way of finding him again.

The smile vanished from Glinda's face when she heard Elphaba's tone. "What is it, Elphie?"

She shook her head. "The last few weeks were long."

"Your father?"

Elphaba shrugged. "He was part of it."

"What else was there, then?"

"A lot." Elphaba inhaled softly as Glinda stepped closer. She looked away and cleared her throat. "But, this isn't the night to talk about it."

The blonde let go of Elphaba's hand in favor of wrapping her arms around the green girl's waist. She rested her cheek against Elphaba's chest and waited. After a moment or two, Elphaba's arms lifted and hugged her back.

"I'm glad we're back," she said. Elphaba made a humming noise in the back of her throat, agreeing. Glinda giggled and pulled away again. "Help me unpack?" she asked, meeting Elphaba's eyes and pouting ever so slightly. It was a look that had worked on the green girl every time she tried it last semester, but something was different now. Elphaba had changed, just a little. Glinda suddenly remembered her fears of Elphaba leaving for break and not returning, not completely. Was she going to lose her best friend to Dillamond's research? Had she already?

Elphaba rolled her eyes and turned, letting out a groan when she saw Glinda's bags sitting near the door. "We have _got_ to teach you the art of travelling lightly."

Glinda grinned and both girls started on their luggage. Maybe something was different, Glinda thought. But this—the two of them together—hadn't changed a bit.

 

***

 

Both girls were woken the next morning by the rattling of their window.

Elphaba jerked, sitting up in bed and staring. "What the…?"

She looked over at Glinda, brow furrowing. The blonde blinked sleepily. "Wasn't me."

It happened again, making both girls jump, and this time Elphaba saw the snow sliding off the glass pane. She slid out of bed with a scowl and crossed the room. Glinda yawned and followed, keeping her blanket close so it was draped across her shoulders.

Elphaba pushed open the window and leaned out. "You idiots," she called out, "You're supposed to throw rocks if you're trying to woo a girl."

Crope and Tibbett were grinning up at the window, each of them holding a misshaped snowball. "Woo, Miss Elphie?" Tibbett called. "We wouldn't dare. It would be impossible to woo a girl such as you."

"Almost impossible," Crope corrected as Glinda came into view and Elphaba automatically scooted over to make room for her in the window. He and Tibbett shared a look.

The green girl scowled. "So are you going to stand there grinning like a couple of idiots, or are you going to tell us why you attacked our window at this Oz-damned hour of the morning?"

Glinda elbowed her gently. "What Elphie _means_ ," she called down sweetly, "Is, to what do we owe this pleasure, boys?"

Crope dropped his snowball and bowed low. "You have been formally invited to breakfast with the most charming boys on campus."

Tibbett threw his snowball at him, then looked up at the window. "Boq and Fiyero are meeting us at the café, and it just wouldn't be the same with our two lovely ladies." He winked, waggling his eyebrows at them, until Crope snuck up behind him and dumped a handful of snow down the back of his shirt. Tibbett yelped and turned to tackle him, sending them both to the ground.

"We'd be honored!" Glinda said, biting back her laugh.

Crope flipped Tibbett over and pinned him into the snow. He glanced up at the window. "We'll see you in…oh, about an hour?"

"We'll be there," Glinda said. She ducked back into the room, no doubt heading for her wardrobe.

Elphaba chuckled and rolled her eyes at the boys. "Get a room!" she called before shutting the window again.

An hour later she was following a practically skipping Glinda to the main square of Shiz. They had the day off before classes resumed, and most of their fellow students were still asleep.

All throughout the last month Elphaba had missed Glinda, and she had worried that it wouldn't be the same tiny blonde who returned to Shiz. She would come back and stop putting up with Elphaba. She would resent the green girl—there were only a hundred reasons why she should. At the very least, things would be tense and awkward between the two of them, like when they'd first become friends.

To her immense relief, however, she couldn't have been more wrong.

Glinda had spent the past hour bouncing around the room, over-thinking her outfit and hair while Elphaba rolled her eyes and tried not to smile. There was banter and laughter and the two were as comfortable around each other as ever.

When they joined the others at a large table in the corner, Glinda tugged on Elphaba's hand and pulled her into the seat next to her. The green girl smirked, feeling oddly pleased with herself, but the feeling disappeared as Fiyero arrived and slid into the chair on Glinda's other side.

"How was your break, Glinda?" the Vinkan asked, scooting ever so slightly closer.

"Lovely," she responded. "Although I did miss Shiz an awful lot."

"Well, you know what they say," Tibbett said, turning to wink at Crope. "Distance makes the heart grow fonder."

The other boy swatted him on the shoulder. "What in Oz are you talking about? You spent half of break at my house!"

"How was your break, Fiyero?" Boq asked. "Did being alone at Shiz bore you too much?"

"Well it was certainly better than spending the entire time in a wagon train to the Vinkus," Fiyero responded. "It wasn't so bad. I spent most of my time working in the library, actually. So, you know, if anyone ever needs to find a book, I'm your man."

"Looks like good old Master Boq has been replaced," Tibbett smirked.

"I think the library's big enough for more than one person," the Munchkin replied before throwing a bite of sausage at him.

"And what about our dear Miss Elphie?" Crope asked. "How was life at the infamous Colwen Grounds?"

"The same as anywhere, I suppose," Elphaba said lightly. "Whether I'm in a castle or in a box, I'm still the token green girl."

"The castle has a lot more room for adventure, though," Tibbett said. "Come on, Elphaba, tell us. What sort of troubles did you get into this past month?"

"What makes you so sure my life is all that exciting? Perhaps my break was as relaxing and boring as Glinda's."

Even Fiyero scoffed at that. "I can't imagine you handling boredom very well," he said, shaking his head with a smile. "If trouble didn't find you first, you'd go looking for it."

"And we all know that trouble never fails to find you," said Boq. "So go on, tell us what sort of commotions you caused."

The green girl scowled down at her food. They would all find out eventually—Boq would hear the news from his family in Munchkinland no matter what she did. She sighed and kept her eyes on her food as she spoke. "I renounced my status," she said quietly.

"You _what_?" Boq was staring at her incredulously. Crope, Tibbett, and Fiyero were just plain confused. Glinda's eyes held only concern.

"I renounced my status," Elphaba repeated. "As Third Thropp Descending. My sister will become Eminent Thropp after my grandfather dies. Not me."

"Wasn't expecting that one," Crope murmured.

"Elphie." Glinda's voice was gentle. "Why?"

But she just shrugged. "Why not? I never wanted the position, and Nessa will do a much better job than I ever could. Munchkinland is pretty messed up to begin with—they don't need to add a green ruler to their problems. Besides, now I'm free to study and research what I will. I'm not tied down by politics."

"So it was your idea?" Boq asked.

"I'm the one who signed the papers," Elphaba replied, hoping it was enough of an answer for the group. There was a long pause as they all looked down at the table. For the first time, everyone at the table felt…well, old—not just students, but members of a society that was changing faster than they could keep up with. Adults with voices and actions that could change the course of the future, if they wanted. Normally the idea would have been exciting, but now it just felt…exhausting.

Tibbett sighed. "Well, it appears as though the amount of royalty in our little group is dwindling. What a shame."

"I'm so sorry to disappoint you," Elphaba deadpanned. Glinda was the first to laugh, breaking whatever tension had settled among them, and then they were all back to joking and telling stories and catching up on the time they'd been apart. They went back to being friends and students and nothing else, for the time being.

Elphaba, however, stayed lost in thought. She pushed the last few bites of fruit around her plate and stared around the café. She couldn't help but think that something was different. Something was missing. She just couldn't quite figure out what…

Toward the end of the meal Glinda noticed the frown on her roommate's face. "Elphie?"

The green girl's brow furrowed. "A Gorilla used to work here," she muttered, eyes darting around. "His name was Rakuul. He used to always say hi to me. Now I don't see him anywhere."

"Maybe he's still on break?" But Glinda's voice was doubtful. She knew better than that. Elphaba rose and took her plate over to the dish window.

"Where's Rakuul?" she asked the man who was working. He looked up, almost standing on his toes to reach the plate she had set on the counter. A Munchkin.

"The Gorilla?" the Munchkin asked, frowning. "He's gone. They fired him over break."

Elphaba stared at the man. He must have been new, because she'd never seen him before. He turned away from her and went back to the dishes, leaving her to wander back to the others with a queasy feeling in her stomach…

"I'm heading back to Crage Hall," Elphaba said, pushing her chair in and grabbing her bag.

"Wait, I'll go with you." Glinda hurried to gather her dishes and carry them to the window. The rest of the group started to break off, gathering their things, and in the sudden flurry of movement Boq managed to grab Elphaba's wrist and pull her a few feet away.

"I wanted to ask—I mean, when finals came up and everything got too hectic last semester—look, I need to know—" Boq's voice was low and urgent and too fast. Elphaba kept her face blank as he stumbled over his words, but she knew what he was going to say.

"Spit it out, Boq, we don't have all day."

"Dillamond," the Munchkin said, looking her in the eyes. "You never told me…well, anything."

"I told you that it wasn't any of your business."

"Yes, and I told you you're wrong. Look, I know he was working on something big, and that's what got him fired. And I know that whatever that work was, you now have it."

"What makes you think that?" Elphaba all but snarled.

Boq looked almost amused. "Your face, right now."

Elphaba grit her teeth and clenched her fists. "Fine. I have his work. Congratulations. Are we done here?"

"No." Boq grabbed her wrist and held her in place. "You're not running away from me again. Don't you get it? You're not the only one that cares about this, Elphaba. Dillamond's work can make a difference. It can change Oz. That's what he's trying to do, right?"

"Boq, I _told_ you. This stuff is dangerous. Yes, this research could help get equality for the Animals. But that's why it's so dangerous. Dillamond was fired. Morrible's trying to get closer to Glinda. She went through my belongings over break. And that's just—"

"Wait, she went through your stuff? Like, she broke into your room and—"

"Exactly. This isn't just a tricky piece of research, Boq. There is so much more at stake here."

The Munchkin swallowed hard. "I get it. I really do. But isn't there even more at risk if you don't succeed? I heard you and Glinda talking. That Gorilla was one of the last Animals to work here. They've lost their right to work, but what's next? The right to have a house? To eat? To _live_?"

Elphaba's face darkened. "You think I don't know that? But if the Wizard is willing to murder an entire species, he won't hesitate to get rid of a bunch of students. That's why I'm doing this alone."

"It won't work," Boq said softly, almost pleading. "Elphaba, please. Morrible's going to catch on. Someone's going to find out. If you try to do this alone, you will fail. Surely you know by now that you can trust me."

The green girl rubbed her forehead. "It's not that I don't trust you, Boq, it's that—"

"Elphie!" Glinda called from the door. She beckoned to her roommate. "Come on, it looks like it's about to snow!"

Boq watched Elphaba, his face softening, and let go of her wrist. "Does she know?"

"She knows only what she's pieced together, and even that's way too much."

The Munchkin nodded. "The boys' library is closed tonight, but I have a key. Meet me outside at eleven."

"Why would I do that?" Elphaba asked, starting to walk toward Glinda.

"Because we need to talk," said Boq with a shrug. "And because a visit to the restricted section would probably help you."

Elphaba shot him a glare over her shoulder, but the Munchkin knew he had won.


	44. Chapter 44

"Hey, Elphie?" Glinda sat on her bed, fiddling with the hem of her nightgown. The green girl looked up from the book she was reading.

"Yes?"

"I wanted to ask you…there was something you said earlier."

Something in her voice made Elphaba close the book and set it aside. Glinda's gaze stayed on her gown. "Go on."

"It's about the Eminency. Boq asked you if renouncing your status was your idea, and…"

"And I said it was."

"No, you said you're the one who signed the papers. That's not the same thing."

Elphaba swallowed. A few months ago, Glinda would have never picked up on that. The blonde went on.

"I just…wanted to know. Was this your choice, or…did your father make you do it?" She finally looked over at her roommate, bracing herself for whatever sharp reply she was sure to get for prying.

Instead, Elphaba's voice was impossibly soft. "In the end, it was my choice. But…even if I'd refused, I don't think it would have mattered."

Glinda held her gaze. "Tell me what happened."

"The day I arrived, they sat me down at lunch and told me they wanted me to renounce my status. I hadn't seen my sister or my father in months, and I had seen the Eminent Thropp for a total of five minutes, and the first thing they did was ask me this. No, not ask. It was never really a question." She scowled for a moment, then sighed and closed her eyes. "Things…didn't exactly go well. When I didn't give an answer, Nessa and my father started bothering me about it. But the thing is, my father's never been involved in politics. Mother didn't want us to have to deal with the Eminency. That's one of the reasons why we were raised away from the Colwen Grounds."

"So why now?" Glinda asked quietly. "Why did your father move there now?"

"That's exactly what I asked. He never said, and Nessa refuses to think he could have an ulterior motive. I still don't know. But there is something. He _has_ to have a reason why he wanted Nessa to have the Eminency."

"Is he looking for power? Does he want a better position in Munchkinland?"

Elphaba shook her head. "No. That's not like him. As terrible as he is, he's still a devout minister. He'd probably decline a position of power even if it was giving to him."

"Then, what?"

The green girl opened her eyes and looked down at her lap. "He told me that he only wanted what was best for Nessa. And, as crazy as it is, I don't think that's a lie."

"But…what's best for Nessa isn't necessarily what's best for you."

She smiled sadly. "Exactly. In fact, it's most likely the _opposite_ of what's best for me. Especially in his mind."

"What's he going to try to do?"

"I don't know." Elphaba pressed her palms to her eyes. "I don't _know_. Nessa's being pushed into a life of politics with no one but my father and our stranger grandfather to guide her, and I'm miles away at school, unable to help her or even reach her outside of a few stupid letters."

"Elphie?"

"She shouldn't have to do this. I didn't want her to have the Eminency because she shouldn't _have_ to. Our mother grew up there and she hated it. But Nessa wanted it, so I gave it to her. And now, if something goes wrong, if Father _is_ up to something, there's nothing I can do to stop it. I can't protect her. I can't protect _me_. It's completely out of my control, and there's _nothing_ I can do."

Glinda crossed the room and climbed up next to Elphaba. The green girl turned into her, letting Glinda calm her down. "Shh, it's okay. It'll be okay, Elphie. I'm sorry. I never should have asked."

"No." Elphaba's face was pressed into the crook of Glinda's shoulder, and her voice was muffled. "I'm glad you did. It's better than keeping it a secret."

Glinda ran her fingers through Elphaba's hair. "I'm sure Nessa will be fine. If she's anything like you, she can handle herself."

"She's going to change," Elphaba whispered. "If Father influences her too much, or if she gets too power hungry, or…"

"Or maybe she'll grow up and be a great leader. You never know. Either way, nothing's going to change the fact that you two are sisters."

Elphaba pulled away and nodded. "I'm sorry."

The blonde rolled her eyes. "I don't _always_ have to be the one with the breakdowns, Elphie." She grabbed Elphaba's hand and smiled. "Besides, you've been holding this in for how long? It was about time you told someone."

Elphaba looked down at their hands, her lips twitching up weakly. "Yeah."

"Don't worry," Glinda whispered, hopping down and moving back to her own bed. "I won't tell the others. They can go on believing you're invincible."

"I am invincible," Elphaba muttered, picking her book up again. The blonde giggled.

"I know, Elphie. I know."

 

***

 

Elphaba lay in bed and listened to the sound of Glinda's breathing. She could slip out of the room easily, but only if her roommate was asleep.

The blonde rolled over, letting out a sigh as she unconsciously pulled her blanket tighter. Elphaba watched her for a moment, then looked up at the clock for what seemed like the hundredth time that night. It was almost time to go.

Still laying down, she reached an arm up under her pillow. Her fingers reached past the smooth glass of her mother's bottle and grasped on to the rough leather of Dillamond's journal. She had decided that she wasn't going to let the research out of her sight, not after what Morrible had done.

As quietly as possible, she sat up and pulled out the journal. Her legs swung off the bed and she toed around for her boots. It had been a while since she had to sneak out of the room without Glinda noticing, back when they were nothing short of bitter enemies. The tiptoeing around, slipping on shoes and a coat, packing her bag and vanishing through the door without a sound—it was eerily familiar, yet it felt like years ago.

Elphaba shook away her thoughts as she crept out of Crage Hall and over to the boys' side of campus. She wondered why she'd agreed to meet Boq in the middle of the night, then she remembered that she hadn't agreed at all. He had simply known. The green girl was annoyed, of course, but she was also, however reluctantly, a bit impressed. This wasn't the stuttering, uncertain, lovesick Munchkin she had met last summer.

A figure rose from the steps of the library as she approached. Boq met her eyes as he fell into step beside her, and the two walked away from the front doors.

"Back entrance," he said under his breath.

He led her around the building to a small wood door. It was covered in dust and looked as if it were sealed shut, but Boq pulled a set of keys from his pocket and, after a few seconds of jangling metal and muttered curses, the door opened. The two stepped inside and Boq shut the door behind them.

"Where are we?" Elphaba whispered, looking around.

"The basement," answered Boq. "They used to store everything down here, before they added a third story. Now this entire floor is abandoned. It's just a maze of empty hallways and closets, and somewhere around here is the boiler room. No one goes down here but the workers, and most of them don't even know where anything is. I don't even think the librarian knows there's a door down here."

She looked at him. "So why do you?"

"Because I like exploring," Boq shrugged, "And it's always useful to have a way to sneak in and out. You can use this door anytime, but you'll need the key."

"Let me guess. You're not going to give it to me?"

The Munchkin grinned. "Consider it collateral. I keep the key, and I get to stay in on the action."

Elphaba scowled. "You are infuriating."

"Come on, Elphaba. You can't get mad at me for doing something you would do."

"The hell I can't. Now are you going to take me to the actual library, or are we just going to stand in this freezing cold basement all night?"

Boq rolled his eyes and led her out of the room. He hadn't been exaggerating—the basement was a twisted mess of rooms and pathways that made Elphaba's head spin. She couldn't have found her way back to the door even if she wanted to.

"Have you ever been in here?" Boq asked when they finally reached a staircase. Elphaba shook her head and followed him up. She looked around as they stepped out onto the first floor. Old wooden shelves towered above them. The air smelled like dust and parchment. Tables and desks were scattered throughout the floor; armchairs were stuffed into corners. There were endless nooks and crannies to hole up in, and the books that surrounded them seemed to go on for miles.

"It looks the same as ours," Elphaba said after a moment. "Only bigger. And older."

Boq nodded, smiling a little as the tension left her shoulders. "It was built about a hundred years earlier, if I remember correctly." He walked off a little, beckoning for her to follow. "Come on. I'll show you my favorite corner. The librarian has threatened to put a nameplate on the wall, I spend so much time there."

He led them to a spot near the back of the library. The two settled down into the corner facing each other, their backs pressed against bookshelves. Elphaba looked down at her knee and picked at the hem of her frock. Boq nudged her bag with his foot.

"Talk, Elphaba."

"I'm no good at that," she said. Boq opened his mouth to respond, but she went on quickly, "Ask me questions instead."

The Munchkin stared at her, contemplating. "What happened the day Dillamond left?"

Honestly, most of what Elphaba remembered from that day had to do with Glinda. She shook her head. "You already know most of it. He told me that he had been fired, and that Morrible had something to do with it. Then he gave me his journal. He didn't say anything, he just gave it to me. I didn't look at it until later."

"His journal?"

"It has all of the research on his latest project."

"And that's the project that got him fired."

Elphaba sighed. "I mean, it probably would have happened eventually, with all the bans taking place. But yes. Morrible wanted to cut him off from his work."

"So what _was_ his work? What was he researching?"

She hesitated. "It's complicated. Come back to that later."

"Okay." Boq paused. "You've been continuing his work?"

"Yes."

"And no one else knows?"

Elphaba thought of Peric. "No. Just you."

"And the Wizard?" For the first time, there was a note of fear in Boq's voice. "How is he involved?"

"I…don't know," Elphaba said truthfully. "His name just keeps coming up. Dillamond mentioned him a couple of times in the journal, but it was only a scribble or two about how he was involved. Obviously he's the one who started oppressing the Animals in the first place, so it makes sense that he would be on the lookout for people trying to defend them. And then there are the rumors that Morrible has connections with the Wizard, which fit in with all of this a little too well."

"Do you think he was personally involved in firing Dillamond?"

"I don't know," she said again. "The Gale Force was here that day, so he at least knew about it." She brushed a stray piece of hair back. "But that doesn't make much sense, does it? If he knew what Dr. Dillamond was doing, if the research was a threat to him, why would the Wizard settle for simply firing him?"

"Maybe…" Boq swallowed. "Maybe it was a power thing. The research poses a threat to him, but Dillamond himself does not. Maybe the Wizard wanted to prove that by firing him. And maybe he thought that, by taking away his work or his labs or his students, he could break Dillamond."

"He's wrong," Elphaba whispered bitterly. "He's wrong about all of it."

"But he doesn't know that. He's too arrogant and too powerful to even think otherwise."

"Some wonderful Wizard," the green girl spat. "All of Oz thinks he's a saint."

" _Most_ of Oz," Boq corrected softly. "There are Munchkinlanders who resent him. There are Quadlings who despise him. There are Vinkans who couldn't care less about him. And obviously none of the Animals love him."

"Great. He's opposed by the poor farmers, the slaves, the nomads, and the citizens who are losing all their rights."

Silence. Then, "Do you ever think about that?"

"About what?"

Boq shifted. "The Wizard is a saint. The Emerald City is a glorious paradise. Oz is a peaceful, unified land. And yet…so many people are suffering. How does it go unnoticed?"

She sighed. "The Wizard makes it go unnoticed. Oz is decaying, it has been for years. But the Wizard twists things around so the people support it. The Munchkins are poor, but what other country can support plantations large enough to feed all of Oz? The Quadlings are forced into slavery, but think of all the riches in their lands, and what those jewels could do for everyone. And the Animals? They're not even human. It's for their own good." Elphaba pinched the bridge of her nose and closed her eyes.

"He's evil," Boq whispered.

"But he's clever. Every move he makes either benefits those who support him, or hurts those who don't."

"He's made it so that the Ozians are corrupt right along with him. He's made it so that what he's doing to the lower classes isn't just legal, it's _praised._ That's…that's…"

"Horrifying? Disgusting? Appalling?"

"That's…why we've got to stop him."

Elphaba looked down at her lap. "…Yeah."

The Munchkin turned his head to gaze across the library. "Don't take this the wrong way, Elphaba. But how is a research project supposed to stop the Wizard from…well, from being the Wizard?"

Elphaba sucked in a breath. This project was the proof they needed to defend the Animals, but how far would the Wizard go to stop them? "Dillamond's research would take away any reasoning the Wizard has behind the Animal bans."

"How?"

"By proving that Animals and humans are equal."

Boq's head snapped back to her. His eyes widened as she explained Dillamond's research. Comparing the components of the brain, analyzing the chemicals and reactions that take place, picking apart and putting together the aspects that make a being sentient—it all caused the Munchkin to lean forward, eyes bright, mouth slightly open.

"Elphaba," he said eventually. "This is…unbelievable."

"It's just a start," the green girl said. "You're right. It's not as if we can march up to the Wizard with this and change his mind. But…it's a start."

"This could change everything," Boq whispered, shaking his head. "How have you kept this a secret?"

Her eyes flashed and darkened. "The same way you will. No one else can know _any_ of this. Do you understand?"

He nodded, his jaw set. "It took a lot to trust me, Elphaba, and I respect that. No one else finds out."

She leaned back, still eyeing him suspiciously. "We don't talk about this in public."

Another nod, this time with a slight smirk. "I'll pass you cryptic notes."

"This isn't a joke, Boq."

"No one is ever suspicious of jokes."

She opened her mouth to argue, only to find that she really couldn't. Instead she exhaled heavily and settled for glaring. Boq grinned and climbed to his feet.

"The brain," he muttered to himself, looking between the aisles. "I'm guessing your library doesn't have much."

"I doubt there's a library in Oz that does," Elphaba said, standing up and following him as he started down one bookshelf.

"No," he replied, "But you might have some luck…" He trailed off as they reached a staircase. Elphaba followed him up to the second floor and through another maze of tables and shelves until they stood in front of a gated doorway. "Here."

The green girl stepped forward and placed a hand on the cool metal bars. A sign hung above the doorway, its painted lettering cracked and faded. _Restricted._ "You can get us in?"

Boq held up his keys. "And you thought you didn't need me." He started forward, but Elphaba put a hand on his shoulder.

"Wait." She looked into the restricted section. It was darker than the rest of the library—the shelves were made of a deeper wood, the books were bound in black leather and covered in much more dust. A single window let the moonlight in, casting shadows across the floor. The content of the restricted section was rare, either too dangerous or too controversial to be allowed in a normal library. This place held answers that she needed. Elphaba was sure of it. She looked back at Boq. "Not tonight."

The Munchkin raised his eyebrows. "Why not?"

"Because Morrible is already suspicious of me. If a book goes missing from the restricted section before classes even start, then she'll know something's up. Whatever is in there, I don't need it right now. It's better to just lay low for a while."

Boq still looked doubtful, but he put the keys back in his pocket. "In that case, we should get out of here. Just…promise me you won't try to sneak back in here by yourself?" They started back downstairs, Boq locking doors behind them as they went.

"Believe me," Elphaba said as they entered the basement once more. "I couldn't if I tried. I'll let you know when I'm ready."

They made their way outside. Boq made sure the door was locked and turned to face her. For a moment all he did was study her. Then he nodded. "Good night, Elphaba."

"Good night, Boq."

They parted ways and headed back to their respective dorms. Elphaba's mind raced as she climbed back into bed a few minutes later. She wondered what she was going to tell Dr. Dillamond in her next letter. She turned their conversation about the Wizard over and over in her head. She missed Peric, and she asked herself why she had avoided telling Boq about him. More than anything, she worried. She knew she could trust Boq, but now she was afraid the others would find out.

She turned on her side and faced Glinda. What would the blonde do, if she knew about all of this? Elphaba never really wanted to find out. She let out a quiet sigh and watched her roommate breathe. The gentle rise and fall of Glinda's body was peaceful, comforting. It felt like home, more than Munchkinland ever had. And eventually, it lulled the green girl to sleep.


	45. Chapter 45

Classes began again, as normally as they could at Shiz.

Professor Nikidik was as vile as ever, going on and on about how much better Oz has been since the Wizard took over. Elphaba did her best to not pay attention, but more and more it seemed that the history professor was speaking specifically to her, making a point of directing every cruel statement about the Animals at her.

Glinda, inspired by her roommate and by how much her grades had risen the past few weeks of break, was determined to be a better student this semester. It had taken all of her courage to raise her hand during their mathematics class, but the look on Elphaba’s face when she answered correctly made it worth it.

The students fell back into their routine of classes, homework, and socializing. The cold and the ever-present threat of snow kept most people indoors, but there were always a few stragglers huddled in shivering groups throughout the campus. Glinda had taken to keeping a small jar on her, in case she wanted to use her flames to keep warm. Elphaba, who was spending even more time around the blonde than last semester, was grateful for the magic. She was also grateful for the scarf Ama Clutch had knit. She had stumbled out a thank you when Glinda gave it to her, and it had been around her neck ever since, a fact that made the blonde grin like a fool every time she saw it.

Glinda was nervous when she walked into her sorcery class for the first time that semester. A few of her classmates greeted her and she smiled back, avoiding the urge to look around for Morrible.

When the headmistress appeared, she seemed perfectly at ease. They spent the class previewing what they would learn that semester. Morrible demonstrated a few spells for them, smiling at the gasps of wonder she received. Instead of starting a lesson, Morrible assigned them pages to read and released the class early. Glinda was just starting to feel relieved when the headmistress’s voice kept her from following her classmates out of the room.

“Miss Glinda.”

She stopped in the doorway, her fingers tightening on the strap of her bag. Slowly, she turned back. “Madame Morrible?”

“How lovely it is to see you again, my dear. I trust your break was relaxing?” Morrible smiled wide, but there was a note of falseness to her voice. Glinda tried to swallow, but her throat was suddenly dry.

“I enjoyed it very much, thanks,” she said as sweetly as possible. “How was your time off?”

Morrible waved her hand dismissively. “Oh, it was just fine. I did, however, struggle to look for an assistant. I had quite hoped you would accept, you know.”

Glinda smiled. “I appreciate the offer, Madame. But I still don’t think I’m right for the job. And I really want to focus on my studies this semester.”

“Yes, yes, of course.” Morrible put a hand on her shoulder. Maybe it was meant to be comforting or friendly, but Glinda had to resist the urge to shudder at the touch. Morrible didn’t seem to notice. “I wanted to tell you, Miss Glinda. I very much hope that you continue to do well in my class. If you keep up with this talent of yours, I can see you going far.”

Despite everything, Glinda was intrigued. “Really?”

“Why, of course! If you keep improving as you did last semester, I don’t see why you shouldn’t. Oz is always in need of successful sorcerers, you know.” The headmistress smiled again, but this time there was a glint in her eyes. She looked at Glinda as if she owned her, almost—as if she could see right through the blonde, and knew exactly how her future would go.

Glinda stammered out a thank you and excused herself. She hurried back to her dorm, trying to shake off the look in Morrible’s eyes. The way they’d watched her, studied her…

“Like she knows everything I’ve ever done or will ever do,” Glinda said to Elphaba later that afternoon. “Like she’s about to punish me for something I haven’t even done yet, but she knows it will happen so she wants to get me out of the way now. I don’t like it.”

She sank down onto the bed beside her roommate. Elphaba looked at her for a long moment, thinking. “Did she ask about being her assistant again?”

Glinda shrugged. “She hinted at it, but I told her the same thing I did last time. If she’s trying to get closer to me—to us—then she’s going to have to think of another way.”

“That’s exactly what she’s going to do.”

“I just wish we knew what she was planning.” Glinda brought her knees to her chest and rested her cheek on them, looking over at Elphaba. “This is starting to creep me out.”

_She won’t hurt you,_ Elphaba thought, her eyes scanning Glinda’s. _I won’t let her._

 

***

 

If Morrible was planning anything at the moment, she didn’t let on. The first week of classes went by, and Elphaba began to shake off some of her uneasiness.

She delved into Dillamond’s research whenever she had the chance, although always in the safety of the dorm room. Glinda quickly learned not to ask what she was working on, and she was never tempted to spy—partly because Elphaba never left the work unattended.

Boq turned out to be a master of secrets. Around the rest of their group, he was exactly the same. Not even Elphaba could tell that he was keeping a secret. What was truly impressive, however, was his behavior whenever they were alone. The two Munchkinlanders quickly learned to communicate with a single head shake or the raising of an eyebrow. They held entire conversations in the handful of seconds where they could share a private glance. It added a new level to the entire project, and although Elphaba had yet to ask for Boq’s help, she was glad he had forced his way into all of this.

As the days went by and Glinda didn’t report anything new about Morrible, Elphaba figured it was safe to go get the books she needed. Still, she hesitated to plan a time to sneak into the library. She was waiting something, but she wasn’t quite sure what.

That is, until the day that she came back from classes to find a Bird sitting on her bed.

She froze, letting the door shut behind her. Her bag fell from her shoulder to the floor and her eyes darted through the room. When she decided they were alone, she took a step forward.

“You are Elphaba?” the Bird asked. It was much smaller than Peric and pitch black—a Raven, maybe—and its beady little eyes shone with not just intelligence, but cleverness. Elphaba hesitated, then nodded slowly. The Bird stared at her for a moment, then kicked an envelope toward her. “I have a letter, from…he said you’d know who it’s from.”

Again, Elphaba nodded. Her heart thumped painfully in her chest, but she reached down and picked up the envelope. “Who are you?” she finally summoned the courage to ask.

The Bird cocked its head. “Someone who owes Dillamond a favor.” Without another word, the Bird leapt away and sailed out the open window.

Elphaba watched it go, letting out a shaky breath. She looked down at the letter in her hands, then at her door. Glinda was in class still, and probably wouldn’t be back for a while…

She sank onto her bed and tore open the envelope. As usual, there was no greeting at the top of the page.

_I hope you made it safely back to school, and that classes have gone smoothly so far. I know you must be missing Peric, as well, but know that his decision is for the best. I’m sure he didn’t tell you much, and I apologize for that. But he has his job, and we have ours._

_As far as these letters go, I have more than a few friends who are willing to help out. If you see a Bird following you around campus, know that you can trust them. The swifter your replies, the better._

_I know I don’t need to tell you this, but keep an eye out, and keep me informed of what’s going on at Shiz, if you can. Particularly the actions of a certain someone we’ve discussed before._

“Morrible,” Elphaba breathed. “He’s as worried about her as I am.”

_My travels are going well, and I know a few places where I can perhaps get some work done. Please, keep writing me with any questions or discoveries you come up with._

Elphaba folded the letter and immediately reached for a blank sheet of paper. After taking a moment to organize her thoughts, she grabbed a pen and began writing.

_Everything has settled down here at Shiz, although there are a few noteworthy things._

_The first and foremost is that I returned to my room after break to find my belongings searched through. Whoever it was, they were unsuccessful. It’s not the first time somebody has messed with my stuff, and I’m sure it won’t be the last._

She didn’t even bother writing more about it. Dillamond would know exactly what she was talking about.

_Second is that Glinda has been doing well in her classes, especially sorcery. Morrible even asked her about that assistant job again. Glinda had to decline again, but Morrible went on to tell her that she has great expectations for her. “Oz is always in need of successful sorcerers,” she told her._

_And finally, I got the chance the other day to visit the boys’ library. A friend of mine works there, and he offered to show me around whenever I want. He also offered to help me with some of my work this semester. I don’t usually like working with others, but I know I can trust him. It’ll be nice, I think. Like having an ally of sorts._

_I hope this letter finds you safe and busy, since neither of us handle boredom well. Also, thank your friends for me. They seem a bit too shy to talk to me._

She smirked and sat back, pleased with herself. After the ink had dried, she folded the letter and sealed it in an envelope.

It stayed safe in her bag until the next morning, when she was walking to class alone.

A bird was hopping along the sidewalk, pecking mindlessly at a few wisps of grass that were peeking up through a crack in the bricks. Elphaba expected it to fly away as soon as she got within a few feet, but instead it stilled and looked up to her, the dullness fading from its eyes only to be replaced with a mischievous glint.

The green girl met the Bird’s eyes, but kept walking. It hobbled along behind her for a while, until finally Elphaba looked over her shoulder.

“Who are you?” she asked.

“Someone who owes Dillamond a favor.”

It was the reply she was hoping for. She continued on, but this time she dug through her bag, pulled out the letter, and held it loosely at her side. A few seconds later, the Bird squawked and jumped into the air. The envelope was tugged smoothly out of her fingers and she watched the Bird fly off and eventually disappear.

When she entered the literature classroom, Boq was already in his usual spot, one table in front of her. She sat down and pulled a different paper out. _Want to study tonight?_ she scribbled down. Then she folded the note and flicked it at the Munchkin’s table.

Their teacher entered with a tired but cheerful “Morning, class,” and began the lecture. Elphaba had barely opened her textbook to the right page when a small triangle of paper landed in front of her. She quickly unfolded it and read Boq’s reply.

_Outside the café. Midnight._


	46. Chapter 46

As everyone else got back into the swing of classes, Elphaba settled into her own routine.

She met with Boq more and more—sometimes to find or return a book, sometimes to give him the latest update, and sometimes just to rant or think out loud to him. He was a good listener, knowing exactly when to stay quiet and when to put in his own ideas, and though she never said it, they both knew she was grateful.

The number of secrets she kept seemed to grow. None of the others knew they were meeting up late at night—although Fiyero had given them a couple odd glances here and there. Glinda had, for the most part, stopped asking questions. She simply let Elphaba work in silence, occasionally placing an apple or a sandwich next to her when she knew the green girl hadn't eaten. And every once in a while, when it was clear they'd both had a long day, she would drag Elphaba away from the desk and sit her down on the bed to play with her hair. Glinda's fingers scratching at Elphaba's scalp or rubbing at her neck always eased the ache of bending over her desk all day, and the silky locks and smooth green skin beneath her hands always brought a smile to the blonde's face.

Elphaba told no one about the letters to Dr. Dillamond, even though they became more and more frequent. As much as she trusted Boq, she needed that sense of security. Even if everything went wrong, the letters would remain safely between her and Dillamond.

 

***

 

Glinda got one week. One glorious, blissful week where Pfannee and Milla and Shenshen were too busy with the start of classes to bother her. One wonderful week, free of insults and rumors and gossip. And then it was over.

Luckily, she wasn't alone when they stopped her outside the café one evening.

"Keep going," Elphaba murmured in her ear. "They're not worth your time."

"Be sure to buy the freak some dinner while you're in there," Pfannee sneered as they walked by. "She's looking a bit thin. Are you sure you're keeping up with your charity case?"

"Is that really the best you've got, Pfannee?" Glinda said shortly, brushing by the girls.

"How did your parents feel about all this, Glinda?" Milla asked, following them inside the café. "Do they support the green bean charity fund, too? Or are they as disgusted as we are?"

"They're pretty important, aren't they?" Shenshen asked, turning to Pfannee. "Lord and Lady Upland?"

Pfannee giggled. "That's right. What did they do when they found out their daughter was a social outcast here at Shiz?"

Glinda tensed, but Elphaba grabbed her hand and squeezed her fingers gently. Her lips twitched into a smirk as she tilted her head down to whisper in Glinda's ear, "Play along."

"So, Glinda," she said, straightening up and leading the blonde over to a table. "What was that spell you were telling me about, before we were so rudely interrupted? You said something about…manipulating clothing?"

Glinda hesitated for only a second. "Oh, yeah. There was this great spellbook I found over break. I learned to do all sorts of stuff—change the material or the color of the clothes, add jewels or patterns. I can even make clothes disappear, if I wanted to." It was a downright lie—one of the first rules of magic was that matter can't just appear or disappear into thin air—but as she and Elphaba cast crooked glances at the other girls, she knew it was convincing enough.

Shenshen and Milla took a few steps back, moving slightly behind Pfannee, who was scowling with her arms crossed over her chest. She opened her mouth to speak, but Glinda turned back to Elphaba, grinning wide.

"Of course, I haven't had the chance to practice that much. But I'm always looking for an opportunity."

"Perhaps Miss Milla would like to volunteer," Elphaba said brightly. "Or Miss Shenshen?"

Milla was out the door in seconds, with Shenshen not too far behind her. Pfannee glowered at them, but Glinda just opened her purse and began searching through it. "I know I wrote the spell down somewhere…"

"Bitch," Pfannee mumbled, turning on her heel and hurrying after the others.

Elphaba collapsed into a chair as soon as she was out of sight, cackling. Glinda beamed and took the seat across from her. "That was evil, Elphie."

"What are you talking about?" Elphaba laughed. "You did most of it."

"It was your idea!"

"And you executed it flawlessly." The green girl gave her a little bow, still grinning.

"What a team we make," Glinda said happily.

"Why Miss Glinda," Elphaba said, remembering what Nessa had said to her. _Shiz would be in for it then…I can only imagine the trouble you two can cause if she teams up with you._ "I do believe I have corrupted you."

The blonde blushed. "I wouldn't have it any other way."

"Thank Oz."

 

***

 

It wasn't the last she saw of those girls, but things never got as bad as they were last semester. Most of Shiz was bored of Glinda Upland, and they moved on to new gossip. Pfannee held on to a few followers, but most of them were only around when it was convenient. To Glinda, the trio was becoming less and less of a problem, and more of a joke.

She still avoided them if she was alone, but she so rarely walked around campus on her own. Most of the time Elphaba was with her, with her quick wit and sharp tongue, and it was all too easy to talk their way out of trouble with the girls. If Elphaba wasn't there, then Fiyero or Boq were, wrapping an arm around her shoulder and leading her away before anything could happen. And then there were Crope and Tibbett, who never failed to make any situation hilarious.

"Really, Pfannee," Tibbett said with a yawn after one of the girls' more scathing remarks, "Isn't this getting a bit old?"

"Yeah," Crope pouted. He pinched a lock of Glinda's hair between his fingers and lifted it, eyeing her critically. "Who would want to talk about this boring old thing?"

Glinda giggled, swatting his hand away.

"You know," Tibbett said, waggling his eyebrows at the other boy. "We could give them something new to talk about." He grabbed Crope and dipped him for a big, dramatic kiss.

Glinda nearly doubled over with laughter as Pfannee and the others made noises of disgust and wandered off. Tibbett helped Crope back to his feet and pouted.

"I don't think they liked our display of affection."

Crope smirked. "Well. I know I certainly did."

 

***

 

"Here, let me help."

Fiyero knelt next to Glinda and started gathering the remnants of their lunch. She smiled and took the food from him to put back in the basket. Their fingers brushed over each other, and Fiyero started making a game of it, tugging and poking at her hands each time he passed her something. She giggled and batted him away, occasionally throwing crumbs of food at him.

A few feet away, Elphaba shook out the blanket with a little more force than was necessary.

Glinda put the last of their things away and shut the basket. Before she could stand up, though, Fiyero reached forward and snatched it out of her hands.

"Hey!" Glinda scrambled to her feet and leapt for it, but Fiyero just grinned and spun out of her reach. The other boys laughed and hollered, cheering the Vinkan on.

"What's the matter, Miss Glinda?" Fiyero asked innocently, stepping backward and holding the basket far above his head. The tiny blonde didn't have a chance.

She pouted for a moment, then looked at the ground. She flicked her wrist and a branch jumped up, swiping at Fiyero's ankles. The Vinkan fell with a startled yelp. Grinning wickedly, Glinda skipped forward and took the basket back. "Better luck next time, Fiyero," she giggled, reaching out to help him to his feet.

Elphaba grit her teeth, tasting something hot and metallic in her mouth. She swallowed the feeling down and finished folding the blanket.

The six of them had taken to spending Saturdays outside. They would pack food and blankets and huddle around Glinda's flames all afternoon, enjoying each other's company. _Some are enjoying it more than others,_ Elphaba thought, scowling over at Fiyero and Glinda. The Winkie prince had been flirting more and more every day, and Glinda was doing nothing to stop him. It was unbelievably annoying, not to mention sickening to watch.

Glinda caught on to the green girl's bad mood as they walked back to Crage Hall together in silence. "Elphie?" she asked. "Is everything okay?"

"Everything is wonderful," she muttered, stomping ahead into their dorm. Glinda blinked, completely dumbfounded, and followed her into the room.

"Hey, no, stop." She put a hand on Elphaba's shoulder. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing."

"Elphaba."

The green girl shrugged away and crossed her arms over her chest. "He was flirting with you."

Glinda felt the blood rush to her cheeks. "W-who was?"

"You know who," Elphaba said bitterly, spinning around to face her. "Fiyero. He's been clinging to you ever since he started hanging out with us."

"So?" Glinda crossed her arms over her own chest, matching Elphaba's stance. "Am I not allowed to be friends with him?"

Elphaba scoffed. "He wants more than friendship, and you know it."

"He's harmless."

"He's trying to—" She cut off, letting out a breath and running her hands through her hair.

"He's trying to _what,_ Elphaba? Be nice to me? Make me laugh? Ask me out, even? Where's the harm in that? Maybe he likes me!"

"He hurt you!"

Glinda lowered her arms. "He was a different person then. You know that."

"I still don't trust him," Elphaba said, looking away.

"Why not? I've changed." When the green girl didn't respond, Glinda stepped closer and forced her to meet her eyes. "Is that _really_ why you're upset, Elphaba? Because he hurt me?"

Elphaba scowled. "What other reason would I have? I'm just trying to look out for you."

The blonde let out a sigh and turned away. "Okay, Elphie. Whatever you say. But you have nothing to be worried about."

A hand fell on her shoulder and suddenly Elphaba was reaching out, pulling her into a hug.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have snapped at you," she said quietly, resting her chin on Glinda's head. "But I'm always going to look out for you, whether you need it or not."

Glinda wrapped her arms around Elphaba's waist. "I know."

"Forgive me?"

"Of course."

 

***

 

Elphaba gripped the journal inside her bag. She couldn't wait any longer. The books she had been getting from the boys' library were helpful, but she needed something more.

She needed to get into a lab.

She wasn't ready to try and recreate Dillamond's experiments. Her nerves couldn't handle that yet. But she _was_ ready to go beyond what could be written on a page. There were materials mentioned in the textbooks and in Dillamond's notes, and if she could get her hands on just a few samples…

Her mind was made up. Now she just needed help. Thankfully, her opportunity hadn't quite made it out the door.

"Boq."

The Munchkin turned to see Elphaba lingering at her desk, slowly putting papers back into her bag. She met his eyes and looked back down at her things. Boq glanced around. Class had just let out and students were rushing to pack their bags and run out the door. He walked over to Elphaba's table and picked up one of her notebooks.

She took it from him and placed it carefully into her bag. "How do you feel about raising the stakes?" she asked under her breath.

Boq grabbed one of her books and began flipping through it. "What do you need?"

"Something we can't get at a library." She stuck her pen into a book and slid it into her bag along the others. "We'd have to break in—actually break in, with no key—to a different building."

"Are you going to tell me which building?" Boq handed her the book he had been holding and watched as she shut the bag.

"Maybe later." She shrugged. "If you have time."

Boq shouldered his own bag once more and led the way out of the classroom. No one else was around at this point, but he still kept his voice low. "I hear the fountain is nice and peaceful after eleven."

"Hm. I've heard it's better at half past midnight."

The Munchkin raised an eyebrow. _That late?_

Elphaba lifted one shoulder and scanned the area around them. _Don't want to be seen._

He sighed but nodded. "You're lucky my first class was cancelled tomorrow."

"Great," Elphaba said brightly. "I'll see you not-so-bright and early then."

She gave him a short wave and hurried off. Boq rolled his eyes and glanced down at his watch, groaning when he realized it would be another eight hours before he found out what Elphaba was up to.


	47. Chapter 47

Elphaba waited a few feet away from the fountain. While it had been turned off and drained for the winter, she was still cautious of things that tended to spray water. This is why, when Boq arrived at the square, dressed in dark clothes and stifling a yawn, he didn’t see the green girl at first.

“You ready?”

“Sweet Lurline, Elphaba!” The Munchkin jumped and spun around. “How do you _do_ that?”

“Green skin doesn’t reflect as much light. Now keep your voice down and follow me.”

She started walking so fast that Boq didn’t get a chance to respond. He jogged a few steps to catch up and focused on not breathing too loud. He didn’t bother asking where they were going—Elphaba probably wouldn’t have told him anyway—but it wasn’t long before the answer became painfully clear.

“The life science building?” Boq asked weakly, staring up at the front doors. Elphaba had come to a halt and was digging through her bag. He turned to her. “Do I want to know what you’ve got in the bag?”

“Relax,” Elphaba said, pulling something out and holding it up. “It’s just a piece of paper.”

“What, a shopping list?”

Elphaba gave him a look. “Funny. No, it’s a spell.”

“A _what_?”

“Sh!”

Boq bit his lip, glancing around nervously. “Where did you get a _spell_?” he demanded in a whisper.

“From Glinda.”

“And she didn’t ask why you needed it?”

The green girl turned away and headed for the door. “I may or may not have copied it from her book when she wasn’t looking.”

He shook his head. “You’re playing a dangerous game here, Elphaba.”

She looked at him, raising an eyebrow. “You’re the one that wanted in on this. Now, are you with me or not?”

Boq walked up to the doors and stood next to her. “You know I’m in. What does this spell do?”

Elphaba turned toward the door, placed her hand over the knob, and muttered something under her breath. There was a quiet _click_ , and she turned the handle. “Does that answer your question?”

“I thought you didn’t like magic,” said the Munchkin, watching her carefully.

“I don’t,” Elphaba said simply, ushering him inside. “But I respect it, and I admit that it can be useful. Now come on.”

They crept through the empty hallways, instinctively avoiding the patches of moonlight that shone through the windows. As they moved more toward the center of the building, it became almost too dark to see. Boq reached out and trailed his fingers over the wall next to him for balance and tried not to step on Elphaba’s heels.

“How are you possibly going to be able to find what you need like this?” he said quietly, earning a tense chuckle from the green girl in front of him.

“I’ll light a lantern when we get there.”

“How will you be able to _see_ it?”

“Here,” Elphaba said, stopping. She muttered those strange words again and there was another _click_ , echoing this time through the silent building. Boq still couldn’t see anything, but he had been in the building enough times to know where they were.

“The lab. You’re stealing from the lab.”

“I only need a small sample,” Elphaba said defensively. He heard a fumbling of glass and matches and a soft growl from Elphaba, and then a lantern sparked to life, half-filling the room with a dim, flickering light.

“A small sample of what?” Boq asked. “And why do you need me here?”

“I can’t pronounce the name of it. Some tissue that the books keep talking about, but I’ve never heard of it.” Elphaba was making her way around the room, unlocking cupboards, searching through them unsuccessfully, and locking them again. “As for your second question, I needed someone to keep an eye out and watch my back.”

The Munchkin rolled his eyes. “Consider it watched.”

“Thanks. Wait…yes! Got it!” She pulled a jar out and held it up to read the label better. “It’s called…actually, never mind. I don’t even want to try.” She reached into her bag and pulled out a smaller jar, then crossed over to one of the tables.

Boq watched as Elphaba took the tissue sample out, cut off a small piece, and stuck it into her own jar. She slipped the smaller container back into her bag, then replaced the lab’s sample and locked the drawer she had taken it from. When that was done, she retraced her steps around the room, double checking every place she had searched through to make sure it was locked. Finally, she crossed over to the lantern and blew it out, then nudged Boq out the door and closed the lab behind them.

The entire process had taken no more than three minutes.

“Impressive, Miss Elphaba,” Boq said as they were walking back through campus a few minutes later.

The green girl made a noise in the back of her throat. “We’ll see how impressive it was tomorrow, when we find out whether or not someone will notice.”

Boq started, stumbling over his steps just slightly. “That reminds me. Have you talked to Fiyero lately?”

Elphaba froze, her face automatically shifting into a scowl. “What?”

“Oh, relax,” Boq said, and his eyes suddenly seemed to dance, as if he knew something she didn’t. “Nothing’s wrong, I was just curious.”

“Why would you be curious about that? I see Fiyero all the time. Of course I’ve talked to him.”

“I mean privately. Just the two of you.”

“Why would I—”

“No, I suppose you wouldn’t.” Boq bit his lip as if he were fighting back a laugh. “Anyway, I talked to him earlier today, and he just seemed a little…”

“Suspicious?”

“No, not quite.”

“Nosy?”

“Curious,” Boq said. “I think…I think he might know we’re up to something.”

Elphaba’s scowl deepened. “No one even knows we’re meeting each other.”

“I think he’s starting to guess.” Boq took a few steps forward and Elphaba forced herself to fall back in step beside him.

“Well, let him think what he wants,” she muttered. “So long as he keeps it to himself, I don’t care.”

“Elphaba?” They had reached the end of the path now, and each of them faced a different direction to head back to their respective dorms. Boq shifted his weight from foot to foot. “What happens if the others do find out?”

“They won’t.”

“But if they do?”

“They _won’t_.”

Boq stared at her, but her head was tilted away. For the first time, she didn’t sound stubborn. Just frightened.

“Okay,” he said slowly. “Whatever you say. You know I won’t tell them anything.”

“I know.” Elphaba let out a breath and adjusted the strap on her bag. “Good night, Boq.”

“Good night, Elphie.”

She walked off. Boq stayed on the sidewalk, watching her disappear down the path that led to Crage Hall. Then, with a sigh that turned quickly into a yawn, he turned toward his own dorm and started home.


	48. Chapter 48

Since their argument after the picnic, Elphaba did her best to hold her tongue about Fiyero. She made a valiant effort, but Glinda couldn't be fooled. She saw the way Elphaba grimaced when Fiyero sat nearby, or the way those green fingers would curl into fists whenever he whispered in Glinda's ear.

It wasn't that Elphaba didn't like Fiyero—in fact, she had grown to like him as much as the rest of their little circle of friends. The two had a surprising amount in common, from unusual skin colors, to being well-travelled, to belonging to a ruling family, and they found they could get caught in long conversations together if they let themselves.

No, she only got angry when he was with Glinda.

The green girl tried hard to rationalize her feelings. She had told Glinda she was just being protective, but that wasn't really true. Certainly she wanted to look out for the blonde, but she knew Fiyero was harmless just as much as Glinda did.

Jealousy. Elphaba wasn't so far in denial that she couldn't admit to the word. But where it came from, she didn't understand. Perhaps it was Glinda and Fiyero's relationship in general. What did it feel like to have someone look at you the way Fiyero looked at Glinda? What was it like, that exhilaration, that giddy thrill of being around someone who made you swoon?

But when Elphaba would sit and wonder about it all—which she rarely did—she knew that wasn't the reason.

Perhaps it was fear. Fear of losing Glinda to whatever relationship would form between her and Fiyero. In all honesty, it wasn't a new feeling. She was always a little afraid of losing Glinda—to her old friends, over Lurlinemas break, and now to Fiyero.

_It's just because she's my friend,_ Elphaba told herself at night, staring over at the huddled, sleeping form of her roommate. _She's my best friend, the first one I've ever had, and I'm paranoid about losing her. That's all._

It was a thin excuse, and she knew it. But the truth was so daunting she couldn't even begin to put it into a coherent thought.

Glinda, for her part, had a simple solution. The blonde would spend far too long staring at her roommate, running through the words that would put Elphaba at ease over the entire thing. _You have nothing to worry about,_ Glinda could tell her, _I'm not falling for him. I'm falling for—_

But even in her thoughts, the sentence would stop there. Glinda was much too afraid, and from that fear came doubt. Elphaba couldn't be jealous of her and Fiyero. She was simply annoyed, irritable, or just being Elphaba. And even if she was jealous, it wouldn't be because…

It couldn't be.

_Maybe she has a thing for Fiyero_ , Glinda thought one night. More than once, the two had been caught deep in conversation. When Glinda wasn't around, Elphaba liked Fiyero just fine. In fact, lately, she got along better with the Vinkan better than she did Glinda. The blonde felt her eyes sting, and she turned over to face away from Elphaba's bed.

Tension rose between them.

It was a vicious cycle they fell into, and Glinda soon felt herself suffering from the whiplash. They would hang out with their friends, and Glinda would laugh and joke and have fun. But when they were back in the room, the arguments began. It was always the same thing: accusing and defending and mocking and accusing some more. The blonde knew she was dancing around what she really wanted to say, and she sensed she wasn't the only one. But nothing changed. Neither one of them could voice what they actually thought, and the argument would end with a soft apology—sometimes genuine, sometimes forced. And more often than not, when it was all over, Glinda would go find Fiyero.

Because Fiyero was sweet, and Fiyero was kind, and Fiyero was safe. Around him, she could laugh without questioning her feelings. She could talk without worrying about chasing him away. She could giggle and banter and just _be_ with him, without trying to stifle the growing ache that appeared whenever she was with Elphaba. And despite what the green girl thought, Glinda could easily look Fiyero in the eye and remind him, _we're just friends._

None of it should have been a problem, but both girls felt scared and lost, and whatever communication that was once so strong between them was slipping away.

Their friends tried to help. Fiyero let Glinda rant to him and encouraged her not to give up on Elphaba. Boq did his best to nudge Elphaba into conversations with Glinda. Silently, the whole group was rooting for the girls' friendship, which had pulled them all together in the first place, to win out. No one seemed more determined than Crope and Tibbett, who never ceased their efforts to make the girls laugh. And every once in a while, when the whole group was in an uproar, Glinda and Elphaba would meet each other's eyes and share a smile. It was then that Crope and Tibbett would nudge each other under the table, swapping private, triumphant grins.

But as time went on and their first month back came to an end, it became clear that their triumphs weren't lasting. So the boys pooled their money and hired a carriage one Saturday evening.

"We need to get away from this boring old campus for a night," Crope announced as they all climbed in.

"Does this mean dinner's on you?" Tibbett asked innocently. Crope scowled.

"Where are we going?" Glinda asked.

"To the Peach and Kidneys."

Glinda turned toward Elphaba, whose head whipped around. For a long moment, the two just stared at each other. Then the green girl patted her pockets, grinning sheepishly.

"I don't have any more sticking solution. I swear."

Fiyero burst out laughing, and the girls smiled at each other. _We've been so dumb,_ Glinda thought, her eyes searching Elphaba's face.

"And here I thought those girls were exaggerating when they blamed you," Fiyero chuckled. Elphaba turned to smile at him instead, and Glinda felt her heart sink, just a little.

_Then again, maybe not._

The ride into town was short, and soon they were piling out of the carriage and into the little café. They were met by a rush of wings and a cheerful voice.

"Welcome to the Peach and Kidneys. How many are in your—Elphaba?"

Everyone started and looked between Elphaba and the Owl that was greeting them.

"Ayla." Elphaba sounded a bit surprised, but she smiled wide. "How have you been?"

Ayla landed on the empty table closest to them. "Alright. I never thought I'd see you here again. And certainly not with…" She cocked her head to the side and looked at Glinda and Fiyero, who both looked slightly uncomfortable.

Elphaba wasn't sure if she should laugh or apologize, and if she were to apologize she didn't know who it would be to. Instead she just shook her head. "A lot has happened since I was here."

"So this is a friendly gathering," Ayla said, her eyes twinkling. "Are you actually going to be eating this time?"

"Yes," Elphaba laughed. "A table for six, please."

"Follow me."

She flew to a shelf and grabbed a stack of menus, then led them to a table near the back. Everyone took their seats and Ayla left to check on another table. Crope, Tibbett, and Boq looked confused. Fiyero was trying hard not to laugh, and Glinda obviously didn't know how to react. Elphaba fidgeted in her chair and cleared her throat.

"So that's Ayla. She, uh, helped me out once," Elphaba said with a shrug.

"I always wondered how you did it." Glinda shook her head and smiled, but it didn't quite reach her eyes.

Fiyero filled the guys in on the story while Elphaba tried to meet Glinda's eyes. The blonde was sitting stiffly, her hands folded in her lap. She nearly flinched when Ayla returned to take their drink orders.

As the boys laughed at Fiyero's story, Elphaba stretched her leg out and pressed lightly on Glinda's toes. "Are you okay?" she asked quietly when the blonde finally met her eyes.

"Yeah. I just…" Glinda looked across the room, where Ayla was currently hovering in midair, sorting silverware. "I need to…" She rose to her feet and left the table. The others hardly noticed, but Elphaba turned in her chair to watch as Glinda walked slowly up to the Owl, wringing her hands the entire time.

Elphaba turned back to the table and joined in the boys' conversation. When Glinda sat back down, she raised an eyebrow at the blonde and said nothing. Glinda shrugged, but her relief was obvious.

"I just…wanted to apologize," she said, loud enough for only Elphaba to hear. "I treated her horribly when we were here before."

Elphaba reached across the table and covered Glinda's hand with her own, just for a second. " _Galinda_ ," she said gently. "Galinda treated her horribly. Not you." Slowly, Glinda smiled.

For a moment, everything was right between them.

Dinner was everything the boys had wanted it to be. The group was as happy and energetic as always. More than once they caused a few heads to turn in their direction, but the other patrons seemed more amused at the noise than anything else. They'd smile and shake their heads, chuckling at the students as if remembering their own youthful days.

Ayla found them hilarious, and the look in her eyes when she glanced between Elphaba and Glinda was as knowing as Ama Clutch's had been at the train station. It made Glinda blush, but it did nothing to ease the tingling of her hand where Elphaba had grabbed it earlier.

"I must admit, Elphaba," Ayla said as she swept up the last of their finished meals. "As much as I enjoy wreaking havoc, I prefer when you actually come here to eat."

"I think I do, too," the green girl replied. She winked at Glinda, and the blonde had to curl her fingers into a fist to avoid reaching for Elphaba's hand.

It was getting harder with each moment that passed. Everyone was in a good mood. She and Elphaba were sharing glances and smiles and half-whispered jokes that none of the others would understand. There was no anger or jealousy, there was no bitterness or blame. There was no Fiyero between them—was Fiyero even here? She hadn't looked at anything but Elphaba for the last ten minutes.

It was getting harder, and Glinda could feel herself starting to slip. She fought the urge to tangle their feet together under the table. When they rose to leave, her hand brushed Elphaba's and it took all her will not to entwine their fingers. She lost her focus every time her eyes met Elphaba's—rich and dark and shining and bottomless and…

Glinda pulled herself away. She couldn't lose control. Not now. If the last couple of weeks had been bad, it was nothing compared to what would happen if Elphaba found out what she was really thinking.

So, when they all started climbing back into the carriage, she deliberately stepped past the spot next to Elphaba and sat by Fiyero instead. She saw the hurt flash across Elphaba's eyes, but it was gone so quickly that she forced herself to believe she had imagined it.

Elphaba was quiet the entire way back, staring out the window with a slight scowl and barely responding when any of the boys talked to her. She was especially sharp with Fiyero when he asked her a question, although for the life of her she couldn't remember what he had said.

" _Elphie!_ " Glinda hissed under her breath. Elphaba glared at her and turned away again, pressing her fists into her thighs to stop them from trembling.

It was getting hard to breathe by the time they arrived back at Shiz. Crope and Tibbett and Boq tried to ease the tension, but they received little response. Fiyero tried to step away from Glinda when they climbed out of the carriage, but she grabbed his arm and kept him close. He raised his eyebrows at her, but she didn't offer an explanation. She simply clung to him, and he could feel her trembling.

Elphaba did her best to avoid looking at them. Anger wasn't a foreign concept to her, but she just didn't understand it this time. And for the life of her, she couldn't get a hold of herself. The group walked back to the main square of campus together. The boys' jokes grew more and more desperate, and Elphaba's replies grew sharper, more hurtful.

"Knock it off, Elphaba," Glinda said finally, glaring at the green girl. The group stopped walking and fell silent. Glinda had let go of Fiyero's arm, but Elphaba barely noticed. She returned Glinda's glare with one of her own, but the blonde crossed her arms over her chest, unfazed. "Just stop it. There's no need to be so hateful."

"Shut up." For once, Elphaba had no snarky reply. She wanted to scream at Glinda, and she wanted to apologize to her. She wanted to apologize to the others, too, because this was just getting ridiculous. But she couldn't do any of that, so she settled for turning on her heel and storming off toward Crage Hall. Without even glancing back at the boys, Glinda ran after her.

Elphaba beat her to the room and was already pacing across the floor when Glinda arrived. The blonde shut the door behind them and leaned against it.

"You're acting like a child, Elphaba."

"Go away."

"No. I live here, too."

"Go away."

"Tell me what's wrong."

"What do you _think_ is wrong?" Elphaba cried, whirling around. "It's the same thing that's been wrong for weeks now!"

And here they were again, dancing around the issue, avoiding the words they actually wanted to say and leaving each other to read between the lines. Glinda knew it wouldn't go anywhere, but she felt her cheeks flush and her hands start to shake anyway. "We were fine at dinner. What happened?" She knew the answer—she had rejected Elphaba. She had pushed her away, and whether her intentions were good or not, it had still hurt the green girl. Still, she hadn't expected this much of a reaction. She went on, "Because if this is just about Fiyero again, then I don't understand! I really don't, Elphaba. You _like_ Fiyero. You two get along great, always talking about travelling or politics or…" She trailed off, wondering once again if Elphaba had feelings for Fiyero, if that was the reason for all of this. She wasn't sure she could handle it if…

But Elphaba didn't notice Glinda's thoughts shift. She was caught in her own mind, trying and failing to understand what the problem was herself. She didn't know what this hot taste in her mouth was, or why her stomach was twisting itself into tight, vicious knots. She didn't know what went wrong tonight.

Or, maybe she did. Maybe she knew exactly what it was, and the blonde was the last person she would ever tell.

"You know what?" Elphaba snapped, pulling them both out of their thoughts. "It doesn't matter. You're right. I'm just being stupid. You can go on flirting with him and—"

"What, I need permission now?" Glinda demanded, her anger coming back and rising to match Elphaba's. "And why is it such a big deal to you, anyway? So what if Fiyero and I flirt? It's not hurting you, is it? So why should you give a damn?" The words she wanted to say still didn't quite come out, but the feeling did, trembling in her voice and stinging in her eyes. "Why in _Oz_ should you care?"

Elphaba's voice was quiet, but it was nowhere near soft. "I don't."

It wasn't true. It wasn't even close. But in that moment, anything was better than admitting the truth. She caught a glimpse of the pain that flashed through Glinda's eyes, but she turned away. If she looked, the truth would come out. And if the truth came out, she'd lose Glinda forever.

Neither one of them stormed out of the room that night, but neither apologized, either. They got ready for bed in silence, ignoring the energy that thrummed in the air. There was a rage in their room that night that hadn't been there since last summer, but both girls refused to do or say anything to change it. They simply climbed into bed without another word.

When Elphaba reached to turn out the light, she saw once again the hurt on Glinda's face. But she said nothing, did nothing, and let the pain linger between them. The pain was better than the horror that could be there, _would_ be there if Elphaba were to ever tell the truth and say, _I care. I care because I don't want you to fall for him. I want you to fall for…_

Even in her thoughts, the sentence stopped there. Elphaba looked away and Glinda turned to face the other wall. She turned out the light and settled into her bed. They spent the rest of the night in silence, both girls pretending that they didn't know the other was still awake, too.


	49. Chapter 49

_Haven’t done this in a while,_ Elphaba thought, rubbing the itchiness from her eyes. How late was it? There wasn’t a clock nearby, but she knew midnight had come and gone well over an hour ago.

Last semester when she escaped to the library, she always felt like she was going home. Now, though, she felt like she was running from it.

The silence in their room was overwhelming—a fact that shocked the green girl. She longed to talk to Glinda, but she was too afraid of making things worse. So, she buried herself in the library, usually taking Dillamond’s research with her.

She was close. So close. Avoiding Glinda had given her more free time, and she and Boq had become masters at stealing samples from the labs, sometimes even staying to run tests with the equipment. All of Dillamond’s theories had been proven correct so far. As far as nonliving brains went, all the parts were identical. There was just one problem.

_We have proven the equality of brains that no longer work,_ Dillamond had said in his last letter. _This is marvelous, of course, but it isn’t enough to prove equal sentience. I don’t know exactly how we would do this. It goes beyond any work I’ve ever heard of. I only know that we would have to…_

It was complicated, not to mention overwhelming. Elphaba constantly felt as if she was running to keep up with all the information she needed. But the beginnings of a solution had been nagging at the back of her mind, and something told her it just might work. But she would need time to figure it out. She would need a couple more books from the restricted section of the boys’ library. She would need Boq’s help. She would need to discuss it with Dillamond, and doing so over letter seemed impossible. But what was most daunting, what was really stopping her from moving forward, was this:

She would need to break into Morrible’s office.

 

***

 

Glinda never imagined they would be this bad again.

At the beginning of the year, she and Elphaba didn’t look at each other. They didn’t stand anywhere near each other. They didn’t talk, unless it was something hateful. They avoided everything about each other. If they weren’t hurting one another, they were nowhere near each other.

It was like the world’s worst wave of déjà vu. Now, she and Elphaba didn’t look at each other. They didn’t stand anywhere near each other. They didn’t talk, unless it was to get something they needed. _Miss Glinda, can you hand me my oils? Miss Elphaba, may I borrow a pencil?_ It wasn’t hateful, it was formal. Stiff, but Glinda was never stiff. Polite, but Elphaba was never polite.

No, they weren’t as bad as they had been. They were worse.

They had made an unspoken agreement to act as if nothing was wrong. They sat at the same tables in class and laughed at the same jokes with their friends. It was only in the privacy of their room that the silence would fall, too intimidating for either girl to try to break it.

The room was silent now, but for an entirely different reason. Elphaba was out late, again, and Glinda moved about restlessly in her bed.

She knew the green girl was just at the library, buried in her books and journals. But still she worried—how could she not? Morrible was as creepy as ever, and it was obvious that Dillamond’s research was reaching a critical point.

Glinda did this every night, tossing and turning and thinking about all the things that Morrible could do to Elphaba if she ever caught her. When her roommate returned, she would lie still and fake sleep. But until then, she lay awake and silently begged for Elphaba to return to the room safely.

Oddly enough, it soon became her favorite moment of the day. When she heard the key in the lock, Glinda would settle under the covers and close her eyes. Elphaba crept into the room as quietly as possible, usually shivering from cold or exhaustion. Glinda would watch as Elphaba set her bag down as gently as possible and untied the scarf Ama Clutch had made from her neck. Sometimes she would hold the fabric in her hands for an extra moment, and sometimes she would glance at Glinda’s bed, her face reflecting something similar to what Glinda felt.

Elphaba would get ready for bed and it would be quiet, but not silent. She would move carefully so as to not wake Glinda, and Glinda would fight to keep her face straight. It was a small consideration, but it was the only affection that passed between them these days.

And when the green girl finally climbed into bed, she would always curl up facing Glinda. Sometimes, the blonde kept her eyes open. Elphaba was never surprised. She simply stared back, and a thousand words would pass between them, though neither girl really understood any of it. They weren’t angry or pretending or even making up. They just were, in a way they somehow couldn’t manage during the daytime.

But other times, Glinda would keep her eyes closed and focus on breathing deeply. And just before she fell asleep for real, Elphaba’s whisper would reach out to her, holding nothing back.

“Good night, my sweet.”

 

***

 

By the time Fiyero and Boq dragged the girls out to lunch one day, they were both exhausted. They didn’t even have the energy to pretend anymore. They just let their chilly silence settle over the table, not paying any attention to the boys who fidgeted in their seats next to them.

“This is ridiculous,” Fiyero said finally.

“Just leave it,” Glinda sighed.

“But you two are acting absurd!” Boq protested.

“Maybe, but that’s between us,” Elphaba muttered. “Leave it alone.”

“Well, you agree on something,” Fiyero joked weakly.

“Shut up,” they said together. Elphaba raised an eyebrow. Glinda just looked shocked. For a moment, they held each other’s gaze.

To everyone’s surprise, it was Elphaba who made the confession. “I miss you,” she whispered.

“Why? I thought you didn’t care.” Glinda’s voice was bitter, and Elphaba was suddenly too afraid to respond. She tore her eyes from the blonde’s and said the words in her head: _I do care. I care too much._

The silence was broken by a tiny sniff from the corner of the table, and then Glinda was gone, rushing out of the café without a backwards glance.

Elphaba pressed her lips together and stared at her bowl. Boq and Fiyero exchanged a glance. Fiyero rose to his feet, grabbing the purse Glinda had left behind, and followed her out the door. When he was gone, the Munchkin turned to Elphaba. He didn’t look angry, or sad, or even exasperated. In fact, he looked like he was trying not to laugh.

“What?” she demanded. “What’s so funny?”

“You,” Boq said, rolling his eyes. “You’re such an idiot.”

“I am not!”

“Yes, you are.” He gestured toward Fiyero and Glinda’s empty chairs. “What’s going on, Elphaba?”

Elphaba opened her mouth, then quickly shut it and pursed her lips. Boq chuckled. “Exactly. You don’t even know.”

“And I suppose you do?”

“Of course I do. You’re jealous.”

It was the first time anyone had said it out loud. “There’s nothing to be jealous of,” she mumbled.

“No, there’s not. But you still are, because that’s what people do when they have feelings for each other.”

Elphaba jerked, her eyes opening wide. “I don’t—who said—I don’t have _feelings_ for—”

Boq’s eyes softened and he put a hand on her arm, calming her. “Look, Elphaba. I don’t know exactly what your relationship with Glinda is. I don’t know how to describe it or what to call it. But I don’t think that matters. There are so many different types of love, and I don’t think they all need a label.”

_Love?_ Elphaba shook her head, feeling the back of her neck heat up. “I don’t…”

“Are you sure?” Boq asked. “Just think about it.”

“Love is for the weak,” Elphaba grumbled.

Boq raised an eyebrow. “I’ll have to disagree with you on that, Elphie. In fact, I think love definitely takes strength. It’s easier to shut yourself away, behind the walls you’re used to. But letting someone in?” He shook his head and stood up, grabbing his bag. “And even if you are right, and love is for the weak…well, everyone has their weaknesses. And not even you can deny that yours is Miss Glinda Upland of Frottica.”

Elphaba looked down. “Don’t you get it? That’s what I’m most afraid of.” She tensed as the words came out, but Boq was nothing but gentle as he turned back around to face her.

“What do you mean?”

She glared at her lap as she spoke. “Glinda is…my weakness, as you said it. I know that. She was the first person to ever try to be my friend. She’s the only person I let hug me, or play with my hair, or hold my hand. Around her I start to lose control of my thoughts and my emotions—even just talking about her now, I’m telling you things I would never normally say to anyone. And it _terrifies_ me. But even that doesn’t compare to how upset I get when I think that, one day, she could stop caring about me.” She stopped and bit her lip, digging her fingers into her knees.

“Elphie, look at me.” Boq sat back down and waited for Elphaba to meet his eyes. “Remember last semester, when I was a—what did you always tell me—a lovesick Munchkin? I would practically worship Glinda, even when other boys had a better chance. Even when she was with Fiyero and she didn’t look twice at me. I knew it was hopeless, but I kept chasing after her anyway. But then we all became friends, and I eventually stopped. Do you know why?”

The green girl shook her head.

“Because I saw the way she was with you—the way she looked at you, the way she acted when you were around—and I knew _that_ was where she belonged, where she was happy. And you were, too. I finally stopped mooning over Glinda because it was obvious: you two were made, _perfectly_ , for each other.”

Boq wasn’t sure if the noise that came from Elphaba was a laugh or a cry, but her eyes were wide when she took a shaky breath and asked, “Even back then?”

The Munchkin smiled. “Probably always. Even when you were torturing each other, the two of you were obsessed.”

“And I ruined everything,” Elphaba muttered, looking down again.

“That’s not true,” Boq said, firmly. “But you need to fix this before it is.”

“How?”

Boq blinked. Never before had Elphaba asked him for advice. In fact, he had a strong suspicion that she’d never asked _anyone._ He reached forward and put a hand on Elphaba’s shoulder. “Simple. You ignore whatever insecurities you have and realize that Glinda cares about you just as much as you care about her.”

“You call that simple?”

“Simple doesn’t mean easy,” Boq shrugged.

“Fine,” Elphaba said. “Say I somehow manage that. Then what?”

“Then? Then you talk to her.”


	50. Chapter 50

Glinda wasn’t sure if she was surprised or not when Elphaba came into the room that evening.

“What, no library tonight?” She sounded tired, even to her own ears. She sounded as tired as Elphaba looked.

The green girl shook her head and sank onto her bed, scooting into the corner and curling up as tight as possible. She watched as Glinda turned to the mirror and went back to brushing her hair.

“What?” the blonde asked eventually. She looked over her shoulder. “I can feel you watching me. What is it?”

Elphaba’s cheeks turned a darker green, but her gaze never wavered. “I miss you.”

Glinda looked away. “I miss you too.”

“I’m sorry.”

She sighed. “You know what’s ironic? I was so worried when we left for Lurlinemas break. I thought for sure you were going to spend a month at home, buried in Dillamond’s research, and you would forget all about me.”

Elphaba’s eyes widened, but Glinda still wasn’t looking at her. She went on, “Now, I almost wish that had happened. At least then it would make sense why we’re so distant.”

The green girl swallowed and tried to find her voice. “You…you thought I’d forget about you?”

“Yeah.”

“Me too.”

“What?”

“I was afraid you’d come back after Lurlinemas and not care about me anymore.” Elphaba rubbed the back of her neck and sighed. “Maybe you should have. You would have been better off.”

Glinda finally turned around to face her. “Is that why you get so upset? You think I’m forgetting about you?”

Elphaba flinched, even though Glinda’s voice was as gentle as possible. “No. Maybe. I don’t know. I just…I know I don’t have a right to be mad when you flirt with Fiyero. It just makes me think…” She groaned and buried her face in her hands. “I don’t know!”

“And you hate not knowing,” Glinda said quietly. She rose from her chair and walked over to sit next to her.

“Yeah.” The green girl looked up and, ever so slowly, began uncurling herself. “I care,” she said suddenly. “I told you I didn’t, but I do.”

Glinda nodded. She knew that. “Remember last semester when we first became friends? How we couldn’t stop arguing and fighting all the time?”

Elphaba winced again, but she mumbled something that sounded like a yes.

“You told me that we just had to give ourselves time to adjust to things. We had to get used to being friends, but we’d figure it out eventually. You were right, as usual.” She gave a half smile and took Elphaba’s hand. “And I think what you said still applies. We just have to…adjust some things. And give it time.”

Elphaba stared at their hands. Slowly, instinctively, she brushed her thumb over Glinda’s knuckles. “I’m so sorry,” she said. “I’ve been such an idiot. I never should have—this never should have gone so far. I’m so sorry.”

“Me too.”

“You didn’t do anything.”

“I was afraid,” Glinda said, squeezing her hand. “So were you. We just…didn’t handle it very well.”

If someone had asked her what she was afraid of, Elphaba couldn’t have answered. But no one asked her, she didn’t have to put it into words, so it was a little easier to say, “I’m still afraid.”

“Me too. Elphaba?”

“Yeah?”

“Fiyero doesn’t mean anything. If I flirt with him, it’s just because that’s how we interact. He knows I want nothing more than friendship, and he would never do anything to change that.”

The green girl sighed. “I…think I knew that. It was just…”

“I understand.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Me too. Now quit apologizing and hug me.”

 

***

 

“Well, it’s about time,” Crope said by way of greeting the next morning. “You two are looking reasonably companionable this morning.”

“Give them a break, Crope,” said Tibbett, “Everyone has lovers’ spats once in a while.”

“You,” Elphaba said, scowling at them both. “Are not helping. At all.” Still, she and Glinda sat down next to each other, and Glinda reached over to hook their pinkies together under the table.

“Just wait until the two of you get into it,” Boq said to the boys. “You’re both more dramatic than Elphie and Glinda combined.”

“I take offense to that,” Crope said indignantly.

“I don’t,” said Tibbett happily. “I take it as a compliment.”

Elphaba let out a laugh—that relaxed, wild cackle Glinda used to hate so much—and curled her pinky tighter around Glinda’s. A jolt of thrill went through the blonde as she watched her, and she realized something. She was still scared—Oz, she was terrified—but she had learned her lesson. She had feelings for Elphaba, and if the green girl found out and hated her, then so be it. But she wasn’t going to let her fears hurt Elphie anymore.

Something told her, though, as she and Elphie spent most of the meal tangling their fingers and poking each other’s hips, that she didn’t have much to worry about.

 

***

 

“Go on, Glinda,” Elphaba said. “I’ll be back to the room soon.”

The blonde hesitated, narrowing her eyes slightly. “Should I even bother asking?”

Elphaba grinned, only a little sheepish. “You’re just going to have to trust me, my sweet.” Her grin slid into more of a smirk and she turned away, heading for the table Boq was still standing by.

“It’s not that I don’t trust you,” Glinda grumbled as she left and hurried to catch up with Crope and Tibbett. “It’s that I worry about you.”

Back in the café, Elphaba grabbed Boq by the elbow and leaned down to murmur in his ear. The Munchkin tensed and nodded, following her out of the building.

“Do we have to do this outside?” Boq whined as they rounded the corner and huddled against the back wall of the café. “It’s too cold.”

“Less people,” Elphaba said quietly, looking around. “There’s something we need to talk about.”

“Did you drag me out here to thank me? Because really, it was a pleasure calling you an idiot.”

The green girl scowled. “Just for that, I’m not going to. And no, that’s not why I came out here.”

“Then why—?”

“We’re close.”

Boq’s mouth hung open for a split second. Then he closed it and shook his head. “You’re kidding.”

“I’m not.” Elphaba’s eyes danced, and a trace of excitement ran under her urgent tone. “I’ve proven all the parts to be equal. In a nonliving brain, all the components are perfect matches. But…”

“But that’s a _non_ -living brain.” Boq leaned against the wall, puffing out his cheeks. “It doesn’t do anything to prove consciousness.”

“Exactly.”

He shook his head. “How can you prove equal consciousness? How is that even possible?”

“I’m not one hundred percent sure,” Elphaba said slowly, “But I might have an idea.”

The Munchkin looked sideways at her. “Let me guess. It’s dangerous, probably stupidly so, and you need my help.”

Her eyes darted around for a moment, then landed back on him. “I need to get into Morrible’s office.”

“You _what?!_ ”

A green hand clamped over his mouth and Elphaba leaned in close. “Quiet!” They both held still for a long moment, listening hard. When everything remained still and peaceful, Elphaba lowered her hand. “Are you going to let me explain, or are you going to yell loud enough for half the campus to hear you again?”

Boq scowled. “Please, go on. Tell me why you want to go on a _suicide_ mission.”

“It’s not a suicide mission. Not if we’re careful.” She took a deep breath. “Look, we’re trying to prove equal sentience, right? So we have to figure out just what sentience _is_ —how it works, where it comes from, and how to prove it.”

“Yeah. And?”

“Think about it. Who do we know that has experimented with conscious thought? What sort of creature—or _machine_ —exists that mimics sentience?”

His eyes widened. “You can’t be serious.”

“You know I’m right, don’t you?”

“I know you’re crazy.”

“ _Boq._ ”

He took a deep breath. “Yes, you’re right. Of course you’re right. That tiktok creature she fiddles around with—Grommetik, right? It has all the signs of sentient thought.”

“But it has no brain with which to think,” Elphaba said. “Tiktoks were invented to be mindless machines, running errands for their owners and such. But this one is different. It can move around and do things without being ordered.”

“So…what?” Boq asked. “Morrible’s tampered with that thing, and it can mimic conscious thought. How does that help us prove…?”

“You said it yourself. _Morrible_ tampered with it. _She’s_ the one who came up with a way to give false sentience. If we can figure out how she did it—whether it’s magic or science or something else—then we can put that up against the minds of Animals and humans.”

“Let me get this straight. You want to break into Morrible’s office—praying, of course, that we don’t get caught by her _or_ that creepy Grommetik thing—and fumble blindly through her belongings until we find evidence as to how she created a false consciousness, even though, for all we know, such evidence may or may not even exist?”

“You think I’m stupid, don’t you?”

“No, I think you’re brilliant. And also insane.”

Elphaba flashed him a grin. She folded her hands behind her back and started pacing. “There has to be a book or a scroll somewhere. Something that she used to learn about the mind. She’s clever, but her field of knowledge is centered on sorcery. Consciousness and sentience—she would have needed help understanding all of that.”

“Have you ever _been_ to Morrible’s office? There could be a thousand books in there, not to mention all the scrolls and papers that would be in her desk. This is…”

“Impossible, I know.” Her eyes met his, and he was shocked to see a silent plea in them. “But we’re _so close._ If we can just figure this one thing out, we can do it. We can _finally_ prove—”

“I know.” Boq let out a breath. “This is bigger than anything else we’ve done. It’ll take planning, and we’ll have to learn Morrible’s schedule, and how that tiktok thing works, and—”

“It’ll take time,” Elphaba agreed, stopping him before he got too worked up. “But it’s what we need to do. Well, what I need to do. You know I won’t ask you to—”

“Oh, shut up, Elphie. There’s no way I’m dropping out now.”

Her lips twitched. “We should probably go. I told Glinda I wouldn’t be long.”

“Okay. Library tonight?”

“Yeah. Front steps at eleven.”

“Sounds good.”

They walked around the building and back into the main square. Elphaba turned her head to say tell Boq goodbye as they parted ways, but she was stopped by something in the corner of her eye.

“What’s wrong?” Boq asked quietly, noticing her expression change.

Elphaba tilted her head, nodding to the café behind them. Fiyero was leaning against the wall, hands stuffed in his pockets, kicking at a couple of spare bricks. Boq’s forehead wrinkled at the sight and he looked back at the green girl.

“You’re just being paranoid.”

“You’re the one who said he was getting curious.”

“And you’re the one who said no one else would find out.”

Elphaba glared ahead. “I say a lot of things. I’ll see you tonight.” She turned sharply and headed back to the girls’ dorm, leaving Boq to keep walking alone through campus. And try as he might, the Munchkin couldn’t shake the feeling of a certain pair of Vinkan eyes watching him.

 

***

 

A storm rolled in that night, blotting out the stars and rattling their window with the heavy wind. Fortunately, any rain or snow maintained its distance, so Elphaba could still make it to the boys’ library unharmed. Unfortunately, the thunder and lightning—however distant—created a whole new problem.

“You’re leaving again?”

Elphaba shouldered her bag. “Go back to sleep, Glinda.”

“I wasn’t sleeping…I can’t.”

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Glinda shift further away from the window. Elphaba bit her lip. She didn’t want to leave Glinda alone like this, not with her mysterious fear of storms. But what choice did she have? She lingered near the door, eyes darting between the trembling blonde and her own, empty bed.

“Stay in my bed.” The words came out as soon as Elphaba had thought them, and she had to resist the urge to smack herself in the forehead.

Glinda watched as the green of Elphaba’s cheeks deepened, and she felt her own face flush red. “I-I—”

“If you want to, I mean,” Elphaba said quickly. “It’s further away from the window, and even if you fall asleep you’d know when I’m back, so I thought…” She rubbed the back of her neck and looked at the floor. _Stupid stupid stupid._ “But I know, the sheets are ugly and it gets kind of cold and—”

Glinda pulled her thick pink blanket around herself and hopped out of bed. She padded across the few feet of space between the beds and crawled onto Elphaba’s plain black sheets. They smelled like her, and just that was enough to ease Glinda’s fears. She glanced up at the green girl. “Are you sure, Elphie?”

But Elphaba was grinning uncontrollably, her cheeks a darker green than Glinda had ever seen. “I, uh…yeah. I’ll be back soon. Sleep well, Glinda.” Before Glinda could respond, she turned and bolted out the door.

Elphaba was still blushing when she reached the boys’ library, although she could easily blame it on the cold. Boq looked up as she approached.

“I’m curious,” he said, standing. “Was all of this—the library, the science labs—was it all just practice? Was Morrible’s office always the end goal?”

“If it was, I would have _never_ let you help me.” She gave a short laugh. “You know, Dillamond warned me on the day he left to stay away from her.”

“Well if we do this right, you’ll be doing just that.”

“Hopefully. But we can focus on that later. Right now I only need—” Elphaba froze, eyes widening. Her jaw set and her head tilted just slightly, as if straining to catch something. Boq held his breath, waiting. Then he heard it.

From behind them, not too far away, came the soft crunch of frozen grass beneath a pair of shoes.


	51. Chapter 51

Boq met Elphaba's eyes. "What do we do?" he mouthed. But Elphaba didn't have an answer. She just stared at him, the green of her face quickly paling to grey. She held perfectly still, but the air around her hands began to ripple and hum.

The footsteps were getting closer.

"Get down," Elphaba hissed finally, breaking eye contact. "She already suspects me, but if you can stay out of sight then maybe she'll—"

"I'm not leaving—"

"Why all the hushed voices?" The footsteps had stopped, but it wasn't the pompous voice of their Madame Head that spoke. Instead it was male, young, and irritatingly casual. Fiyero stepped forward, grinning. "You two aren't keeping secrets now, are you?"

Boq let out a breathy laugh and sank down onto the steps. Elphaba, however, showed no relief.

"What the _hell_ are you doing here?" she snarled, turning on Fiyero.

"Whoa, easy!" He threw his arms over his head as the wind picked up around them. "Look, I didn't mean to scare you guys—"

"Why are you here?" she demanded. "I could have blasted your head off! What in Oz's name are you _thinking_?" But her voice lost some of its power and, with a final burst of wind, her shoulders slumped and she stumbled back, sitting down heavily.

Fiyero lowered his arms and stared as Elphaba leaned down, trying to catch her breath. "We've got to work on your self-control."

"I-I think what Elphaba was trying to say," Boq cut in hastily, "Is, why are you here?"

"Why are _you_ here?"

"Fiyero, I swear, if you don't—"

"Relax, Elphaba." The Vinkan rolled his eyes and reached inside his bag. "I'm here because I thought you might be interested in…this." He pulled out a thick book and held it up.

Elphaba raised an eyebrow. "I have dozens of books, Fiyero. In fact, we're standing in front of a library. Why should that one interest me?"

"Because it's not a book, it's a journal. And it's from Morrible's office." He tossed it to her. "You two have been keeping secrets, haven't you?"

The green girl was speechless. Boq scrambled to look over her shoulder as she opened the journal and flipped through it.

"Her experiments," Boq whispered. "All her notes on sentience…they're in here." They looked up at Fiyero, who had his hands shoved in his pockets. "How did you get this?"

The Vinkan shrugged. "Same way you were going to. I snuck into her office."

"Do you realize what she would have done if she'd caught you?" Elphaba asked, unable to muster any anger.

"If she'd caught _you_ ," Fiyero corrected. "You said it yourself, she's suspicious of you. But why in Oz would she think I was working for Dillamond? I barely knew the old Goat. Besides, she's been kissing up to me since the day I got here. I guess royalty does have its perks."

"She's going to realize this is missing," Boq said. "And as soon as she does, she'll know Elphaba's involved."

"You've got a little bit of time," Fiyero said. "Look at the journal's cover. It's all dusty, right? She hasn't touched it in a while. And I put one of my spare notebooks in its place, so she won't notice it's missing at first."

"You…you thought of all that?"

The Vinkan scoffed. "I'm hurt, Elphaba."

She shook her head. "Sorry, it's just…how did this happen?"

Fiyero sat down in front of them. "You two have been acting weird for a while. Crope and Tibbett have barely noticed, because they're too busy obsessing over you and Glinda. And Glinda's noticed, but she's used to not questioning it when you do things like this. That left me to be the curious one."

_Obsessing over me and Glinda?_ Elphaba shook her head, trying to focus. "So what, you've been eavesdropping?"

"This morning was the only time, I swear. I don't even know what you're up to. Just that you needed to get into Morrible's office."

Elphaba hesitated, her fingers tightening over the journal. She tried to take a deep breath, but it did nothing to help the suffocating feeling in her chest. "This is…you can't…you shouldn't know about this. You _can't_ —"

Boq put a hand on her elbow. "Elphaba, breathe. He doesn't know. He just helped us get the journal."

"If Morrible—"

"She won't find out if we work quickly. You have the research with you, right? We'll go into the library and start copying down what we need from Morrible's journal. Then Fiyero can return it before tomorrow morning. She'll never know we had it."

"You can copy all of that in one night?" Fiyero asked, eyeing the journal.

Boq scowled at him. "We'll only copy what we need. It'll be a long night, but we can do it in shifts if we have to. Now come on." He stood and tugged on Elphaba's elbow. "We've got work to do."

 

***

 

They stayed in the basement of the library, not wanting to risk being seen through the windows on the main floors. Boq found a lantern and brought it into the little room they were using, but its light was dim and it did nothing to fight the chill that seeped through their coats almost immediately. He and Elphaba huddled over their work. The table had quickly been taken over by endless books and notes and papers, and Fiyero couldn't even begin to make sense of it all.

"I want to help," he had said when they first sat down, but Elphaba hadn't even spared him a glance.

"You've helped enough."

Several hours later, silence had fallen over them, broken only by the incessant scratching of pen on paper. Boq's hand was aching, but he didn't dare stop. They were almost through Morrible's work, and it was probably only an hour or two before dawn.

Elphaba was curled up in the corner, shivering slightly under the thin blanket Fiyero had found. She had been up all night, even though Boq and Fiyero had each nodded off for an hour or so. But both the boys kept nagging at her, and she had finally left the research to Boq and settled down to rest her eyes. They were a little surprised that she actually fell asleep, but Boq wasn't complaining. He would wake her if he needed her help. For now, she needed rest.

Fiyero shifted in his seat and yawned, chuckling when Boq caught it.

"Stop it," the Munchkin said. "You're distracting me."

The Vinkan glanced at the watch Boq had put on the table. "It's past four in the morning. You've been doing this for hours."

"It's important."

"Yeah, I realize that." He looked over at Elphaba and shook his head. Boq followed his gaze.

"She doesn't mean any harm," the Munchkin sighed. "She's just…afraid."

"Elphaba? Afraid?"

"It happens more than you'd think. But anyway, this research is important. It's dangerous. She doesn't want anyone to get hurt because of it."

"She let you in on it."

"I kind of forced my way into it. Like you did."

"And yet, she won't tell me anything."

"She's just trying to protect you. And everyone else. The more people who know about it, the easier it is for the secret to get out. Really, can you blame her for keeping you in the dark?"

"I suppose not." Fiyero rubbed his eyes. "But what is she so afraid of? Morrible?"

"Morrible is first and foremost, yeah. But this goes deeper than that."

"What do you mean?"

The Munchkin pressed his lips together. He glanced down at the mess of papers in front of him, then lowered his pen. "Don't ask me that. I don't want to have to lie."

"Tell the truth, then." There was a hint of a smile in Fiyero's voice, but he sounded defeated.

"Don't worry," Boq said. "You'll find out sooner or later."

"You think so?"

"I do. As stubborn as Elphie is, she knows when she needs help. And with this, she needs all the help she can get."

Fiyero frowned slightly. "If it's something Elphaba needs help with, I'm not sure I want to know."

"It is daunting," Boq agreed. "But it's fighting for a cause that's worth it."

"The Animals," Fiyero said quietly.

"Equality," Boq said, picking up his pen again. "For everyone in Oz."

"Hey, Boq?" Fiyero glanced at the green girl again, making sure she was still asleep. "What happens if Glinda finds out?"

The Munchkin smirked. "Remember how she was earlier? With the magic and the wind and the air that was practically sparking around her?"

Fiyero paled a little. "Yeah."

"Nothing," Boq said. "Nothing at all compared to what she'd do to the idiot who tells Glinda."

The Vinkan was silent for a moment. "And if Glinda finds out on her own?"

Boq looked over his shoulder at Elphaba and sighed. "That just might break her."

The boys fell silent again. Boq went back to the research, but it was only a few minutes later when he stopped and frowned.

"What is it?" Fiyero asked.

The Munchkin shook his head and turned around. "Elphaba?"

The green girl groaned a little and opened her eyes. "What time is it?"

"Almost five. Come here, I need your help."

She climbed to her feet and went to the table, keeping the blanket around her shoulders. As she sat down, Boq pointed to a passage in Morrible's journal. "I have no idea what any of this is saying."

The green girl frowned, then started, sitting up straight. "I've seen this before. A couple of the restricted books have talked about it, and it was in the journal once or twice." She stood up and began digging through their papers, hastily pulling out pages and circling little bits. "If Morrible talks about it, maybe I can…oh, where is it?"

She froze. The page she was looking for wasn't here, it was still in her bag, with the rest of Dillamond's letters. "Nevermind," she said, her voice low. "I'll find it later. Let's copy that entire passage down. How much do we have left after that?"

Boq flipped through the last few pages of Morrible's journal. "Not much."

"Thank Oz," Fiyero mumbled. "I'm exhausted."

"You're the one who chose to stay," Elphaba grumbled. She sat back down and tried to rub some of the heaviness out of her eyes. "Want me to do it, Boq?"

"Please." He handed her the pen. "My hand is killing me."

"I think I can hear my pulse," Fiyero mused, tugging at his ear. "Everything sounds a little fuzzy."

Elphaba smirked down at her paper. "You've never stayed up late before, have you?"

"This isn't late," Fiyero argued with a yawn. "This is early. Way too early. You're insane."

"That's what they tell me."

They fell silent again, too exhausted to try and make conversation.

"Did you still want to get a book, Elphaba?" Boq asked after a while, getting to his feet and stretching.

"Yeah!" Elphaba said, remembering. "Here, I'll write it down. And take this back, too." She scribbled a title down on the corner of the page and tore it off. Boq took it and the book she was returning before disappearing into the library.

"How long have you two been doing this?" Fiyero asked after a while.

"A few weeks?" Elphaba shrugged. "Why?"

"Just wondering how much I missed before I figured it out."

"Don't sound so smug about it." She turned a page in Morrible's journal, but there were only a few sentences written down. The green girl leaned back, stretching her hand. "We're done."

"Finally," Boq said, walking back into the room. "I looked out the windows while I was up there. It's still dark, but not for long."

"Then I guess it's time for us to go." Elphaba began stacking their papers and placing them carefully into her bag. Boq took Morrible's journal and flipped through it once more, inspecting it for any sign of use. He handed it back to Fiyero.

"Does it look any different from when you first got it?"

"Not that I can tell," the Vinkan said. He tucked the journal away. "I should go, before she wakes up. I'd say see you in class later, but I am definitely skipping all my lectures today."

"Weak," Elphaba mumbled.

"Good _night_ , Elphaba."

"Good morning, Fiyero."

The Vinkan scowled, then grinned, then waved goodbye and slipped out of the room. Boq helped Elphaba gather the rest of her things.

"Are you still worried about him?" he asked as they made their way out of the library.

"Of course I am." She glared down at her feet. "But I do owe him now. This is…" She shook her head. They were closer than ever. If there was a way to prove equal sentience, this was it. Pretty soon—maybe in just a couple of days—she could write to Dillamond and tell him that she'd done it.

Boq nodded wearily, rubbing his eyes. "Yeah. I have to admit, as committed as I was to all of this, I never really imagined what it would be like when we got this close."

"Neither did I," the green girl whispered. She sniffed and shivered, trembling from both the cold and the exhaustion.

"Are you going to class?" Boq asked.

"It'll be suspicious if I don't," she answered with a sigh. "You?"

"I don't have anything until this afternoon, so yes."

"I hate you."

"I know. See you later, Elphie."

"Sleep well."

She made her way to Crage Hall. She felt numb and heavy, but proud. The journal had been exactly what she needed. Maybe, just maybe, they could do this. Dr. Dillamond's work wouldn't be in vain.

Elphaba had almost forgotten about the blonde sleeping in her bed. She leaned against the door for a moment, watching Glinda's peaceful breathing. She was too exhausted to either wake up or try and move the blonde, so she just kicked off her boots and shrugged off her coat—forgetting Ama Clutch's scarf around her neck—and collapsed as gently as possible onto the bed.

"Elphie?" Glinda mumbled, her eyes fluttering. "What time is it?"

"Don't worry about it," the green girl whispered. "Go back to sleep."

Glinda stretched her fingers out, her eyes not quite open, and grabbed Elphaba's hand. "You're freezing." Before Elphaba could respond, Glinda rolled toward her and tucked her blanket around both of them. It was warm and soft and smelled just a little bit like Glinda. The green girl sighed contentedly and let her eyes flutter shut. Glinda was already asleep again, and it didn't take Elphaba long to follow suit.

Beneath the blanket, their fingers stayed intertwined.


	52. Chapter 52

Elphaba was gone by the time Glinda woke the next morning, but her side of the bed was still warm.

The blonde sat up, heat flooding her face as she remembered last night—or was it early this morning—Elphaba laying down, scooting closer to her, tangling their fingers under the blanket…

She climbed out of bed and dragged the blanket back to her side of the room. Elphaba came out of the bathroom, still rubbing oil into her arms. Her eyes were dull, Glinda noticed, and she was practically dragging herself across the room.

“How late were you up last night?” Glinda asked, watching her.

“Not sure,” the green girl mumbled. “It was just barely starting to get light. A little before six?”

Glinda glanced at the clock. “You only got two hours of sleep?”

“We have class soon.”

“You need _sleep_!”

Elphaba yawned. “I’ll sleep this afternoon.”

“But—”

“If I don’t show up, it’ll be suspicious. Especially since Nikidik’s class is first. So, I’m going.”

Glinda scowled. “Why were you even up so late?”

“Can’t tell you.”

“But—”

“Glinda, please. Just trust me.”

The blonde tried to hold her glare, but then Elphaba yawned wide and stumbled back onto her bed, and the sight was too precious for Glinda to stay annoyed. She shook her head and smiled. “I’m going to have to carry you to class, aren’t I?”

The green girl smirked. “I wouldn’t be opposed. Although we’d never hear the end of it from Crope and Tibbett.”

“That,” Glinda said, turning to her wardrobe to pick out a dress, “Is too true.”

 

***

 

Three classes and several hours later, Elphaba was free and stumbling back to Crage Hall. Part of her desperately wanted to dig into the notes they had written last night, but the rest of her was too achingly tired to think of anything but her bed. Besides, Glinda had ordered her to go sleep, and she didn’t really want to find out what the blonde would do if she came back to the room and found her still awake.

She was busy planning the quickest way to get her boots off and collapse into bed when a voice stopped her.

“Miss Elphaba.”

The green girl turned around. She tried to keep her grip on her bag relaxed, tried not to let the tension in her shoulders show. She was suddenly more awake than she had been all day. Instinct started to kick in, and she had to swallow past the dryness in her throat before she could speak. “Good afternoon, Madame Morrible.”

“You look tired, dear. Are you alright?”

“It’s nothing,” Elphaba said. “I just didn’t sleep well with the storm last night.”

“Oh, how unfortunate.”

“It’s no big deal.”

The campus was mostly empty, but they weren’t far from Crage Hall. If something happened, Elphaba might be able to make it inside, and once they were around other people…

The headmistress made a doubtful noise. “Some of your teachers have been a little worried about you, Miss Elphaba. They say you seem to have had quite a few late nights recently.”

The green girl shrugged. “I tend to get caught up in my work and forget about the time. But it’s nothing I can’t handle.”

“I hope so,” Morrible said. “It would be… _unfortunate_ , if your grades started to slip because of this.”

_Was that a threat?_ Elphaba honestly wasn’t sure, but if Morrible tampered with her grades, and she lost her scholarships… “I’m keeping up rather well,” she said, looking the headmistress in the eyes. _If you do something, I’ll know._

“That’s good to hear. Well, I must go. My sorcery class begins in a few minutes. Which reminds me—you should be proud of your roommate.” Morrible smiled coldly. “She’s come a long way, and I know it’s partly due to your influence. Have a good day, my dear.”

That time, she definitely sounded threatening. Elphaba’s heart pounded as the headmistress walked off, but she forced herself to turn back to Crage Hall. There was nothing that Morrible could do during class anyway, and acting protective of Glinda would only make her more suspicious.

Elphaba went back to the room, feeling even more drained than before. Somehow, Morrible knew she was close. If she didn’t figure this research out quickly…

She shivered and pulled her thin, worn blanket around her shoulders, fighting the urge to scream. She was desperate and exhausted and worried and if she didn’t hurry, then Morrible would do…something. Even now, the headmistress was just waiting, biding her time until she could catch Elphaba. She didn’t know what Morrible would do, and she never wanted to find out.

She felt hopeless. She wanted to talk to Dr. Dillamond, or maybe Peric. She wanted Boq—and now Fiyero—to stop helping her, before they got hurt. She wanted Glinda here, because maybe then the room wouldn’t seem so overwhelmingly empty.

_Go to sleep, Elphaba_ , she snarled at herself. She curled up tightly and screwed her eyes shut. Any energy she had left vanished, quieting her mind and leaving her with a vague floating feeling. She had just enough time to think that things would seem less daunting when she woke up again, and then she was gone.

 

***

 

Glinda crept quietly into the room and set a wrapped sandwich on Elphaba’s desk. It had been early evening before the green girl had a chance to sleep, and she had missed dinner. Glinda secretly hoped that Elphaba slept until tomorrow morning, but she had brought up food just in case.

She set her bag down and slipped out of her heels. It was long past sunset, and she wanted nothing more than to get her homework done and curl up in bed. She glanced jealously at Elphaba, but something made her frown. The green girl wasn’t resting peacefully. She was curled painfully tight, shivering under her useless blanket. Her forehead was scrunched and her eyes were screwed shut.

Glinda grabbed a blanket from her bed and placed it ever so gently over her roommate, tucking it around her skinny frame. After a moment or two, Elphaba started to untangle herself. She fumbled for the blanket and pulled it around tighter. Glinda smiled and brushed a lock of dark, silky hair back, brushing her thumb over Elphaba’s forehead to smooth out the worry lines.

“I worry about you, you know,” Glinda whispered. “You’re the strongest, toughest, bravest person I know, but even you have your limits.” She wrapped a strand of hair around her fingers, marveling at how soft it was. “Morrible was creepier than ever today. Whatever it is you’re trying to do, she’s catching on. It makes me so nervous. I’m afraid that one day, you’ll go too far. She’s going to do something. You’ll get hurt. That terrifies me, Elphie. I don’t want to lose you…” She swallowed hard and stroked Elphaba’s cheek with the back of her hand. “I don’t want to lose you.”

The green girl stirred and Glinda pulled her hand away, wiping quickly at her eyes.

“Glinda?”

“Hey.” She smiled gently. “Sorry. I was just bringing the blanket over. You looked cold.”

Elphaba burrowed further under the blanket, breathing deeply. She smiled a little and her eyes fluttered open. She looked up at the blonde and blinked heavily. “You were saying something…Morrible?”

“You must be imagining things,” Glinda said calmly. “You’ve only been asleep a couple hours, but I brought food if you’re hungry.”

“Not hungry,” Elphaba slurred. “Just exhausted.”

“Then sleep,” she said softly. Elphaba’s eyes drifted shut again and she sighed. Glinda leaned over and pressed a light kiss to her forehead. “Sleep.”


	53. Chapter 53

Ironically enough, Glinda didn't see much of Elphaba the next few days.

It was ironic because the green girl never seemed to leave the room, except for classes. She stayed at her desk, nose buried in journals and papers and textbooks so dusty and faded Glinda swore they were older than Shiz itself. More than once, Elphaba forgot or simply didn't bother going to eat something, and it became normal for Glinda to sneak a sandwich or salad out of the café for her.

She refrained from questioning Elphaba, even when the green girl was hunched over her desk with her face buried in her hands, trembling from anger or fear or fatigue or just plain desperation. But there was one question she couldn't quite keep down.

"You're staying in here to avoid Morrible, aren't you?"

There had been no answer.

As much as Glinda respected Elphaba's silence—and her intensity and dedication and stubbornness—she couldn't stand the long, tense hours shut in their room. So she spent most of her time wandering around campus with the boys. They asked about Elphaba, of course—Boq and Fiyero seemed particularly worried—but they all seemed to know not to press the subject. If Elphaba didn't want to be bothered, then they wouldn't bother her.

Glinda was grateful, because talking about her roommate was starting to make her feel sick. Something was coming. The stakes were rising—Dillamond's research was unfolding, the answer was getting closer, and Morrible was appearing more and more frequently.

It got to the point where Glinda was starting to struggle in sorcery again, simply because the feeling of Morrible watching made her too nervous to focus. Desperate not to appear suspicious to Morrible, she looked for ways to clear her mind when she was upset or anxious and couldn't conjure her magic. When deep breathing and calming thoughts didn't work, she found herself thinking of Elphaba's smell—earthy oils and new parchment and sometimes ripe green apples or crisp fresh air. She would focus on the memory of the scent, almost breathing it in, and her mind would settle.

The only struggle then, as the spell would cast flawlessly and Morrible's smirk would fade, would be not blushing in front of the entire class.

 

***

 

Elphaba felt as if she hadn't taken a breath in days. She worked without stopping, scribbling notes and researching terms and pulling an endless, chaotic string of ideas together. It was overwhelming, and she felt constantly on the brink of complete failure. One wrong move and she would stumble, losing her grasp on everything she was working toward. There were so many ideas to research, so much information she didn't know, and it both infuriated and exhilarated her.

She couldn't remember the last time she'd spoken to Glinda—or anyone, for that matter. She left her desk only to go to class, and as soon as the teacher dismissed them she would be darting back to Crage Hall to keep working. The research was always with her, either on the desk in front of her or in her bag. More than once she had fallen asleep in her chair, collapsing onto the stacks of paper with her pen still in hand, moving only when Glinda would nudge her gently awake and half-carry her to the bed. The blonde would pull off her boots and wrap the blanket around her and even—after Elphaba had sleepily protested leaving the work out on her desk, in the open for anyone to see—tuck Dillamond's journal under her pillow.

Elphaba knew the blonde was worried sick, and she was beyond grateful for the space and understanding Glinda was giving her. She had lost count of the number of times she'd answered a question with "Just trust me." But every single time, Glinda did.

She missed Glinda. It was like winter break all over again, but worse. Elphaba ached to spend time with the blonde—to tease her and make her smile and poke her side until she giggled or intertwine their hands under the table. She lived for the moments when Glinda would return for the night, greeting Elphaba silently with a hand on her shoulder and a kiss on the cheek. She knew that nothing was keeping her from the blonde but herself, yet she couldn't tear away from the research. She just couldn't.

They were so close.

Elphaba kept telling herself that, but it was only because the thought kept running through her head. Every word she wrote, every topic she finally understood, every part of her plan that fell into place reminded her: _so close._

"Elphaba?"

The green girl blinked and shook her head before turning around. Glinda stood in the doorway, watching her. Everything seemed fuzzy, and words kept bouncing around her head: _equal sentience, proving cognizance, instinctive moral judgment versus an ingrained set of rules—_

"Elphaba, are you even awake?"

"S-sorry." Elphaba blinked again. "I'm just…"

The blonde stepped forward and knelt next to her chair. "Elphie, please. Take a break from this, just for a while."

"Glinda, you know I can't—"

"I'm worried about you. You barely sleep, and you haven't eaten a real meal in days. You're going to waste away in here."

"It hasn't even been a week." Elphaba scowled.

"Come eat dinner with us," Glinda went on, ignoring her. "Boq and Fiyero are worried. Crope and Tibbett keep complaining that they don't remember what you look like."

The green girl sighed. "I don't know."

"Please?" She pouted her lips and stared up at Elphaba. "Please, Elphie?"

As soon as their eyes met, Elphaba was a goner. "Oh, fine. But _only_ dinner. Then I'm coming straight back here."

"Yay!" She jumped to her feet and hugged Elphaba. "Oh, thank Oz! I've missed you so much!"

The green girl gently pried Glinda off of her. "Relax, my sweet. I haven't gone anywhere."

And yet, she couldn't even try to hide the deep emerald blush that took over her cheeks.

 

***

 

Elphaba flipped a journal shut and stuffed it in her bag. Glinda's head snapped up at the sound.

"You're leaving?"

"I need to work somewhere else," Elphaba responded, loading more papers into her bag. "I'm sick of this desk."

"Oh." Glinda grabbed one of her pillows and hugged it to her chest. She glanced nervously out the window, as if the night sky held any of her worries. "Be careful?"

Elphaba shouldered her bag. "Don't worry. Besides, this way I won't keep you up half the night. I know you don't sleep well when my lamp is on."

"I sleep even worse when you're not here," Glinda mumbled, but her voice was too low for the green girl to hear, and soon Elphaba was gone.

She headed for the library, naturally. It had never failed her as a safe haven, and instinct told her she belonged with the rickety old tables and dusty bookshelves tonight.

She could feel the energy humming through her as she walked across the dark campus. All her excitement and worry and anticipation and determination all coiling tightly together somewhere in her gut—it wasn't quite magic, but it wasn't quite normal emotion, either.

Her mind was already running like crazy by the time she snuck into the library and settled down in her corner. She had missed it here. The boys' library was exciting, but this place was hers. It calmed her and centered her, and soon she was able to settle her thoughts and focus on Dillamond's research.

Boq had questioned her at dinner. She had barely talked to him since the night with Morrible's journal, and she felt a little guilty, especially when she brushed him off and avoided him throughout the meal. But at this point there was nothing more he could do. Once she figured out how to prove equal sentience, she would tell Dillamond, and she didn't want anyone else knowing that she was communicating with him.

Because the Goat was travelling closer and closer to Shiz. He hadn't said anything, of course, but it was taking less time for their messages to go back and forth, and he had been sounding more and more anxious with every letter they wrote. Of course, that very well could have just been due to how intense their research was getting.

Fiyero had obviously been worried, too, but he did his best to act casual, especially when Glinda was listening. And since the blonde had been curled up against Elphaba for the entire meal, she was almost always listening.

And then, when the entire group was walking out of the café, they had passed by the Madame Head. Elphaba could still see Morrible's cold stare, her eyes glinting dangerously and her mouth curling up into a predatory leer. There was no pretense in her gaze, not anymore, and Elphaba was sure that, had she been alone, she would have been cornered immediately. It sent shivers down the green girl's spine. But Crope and Tibbett had shouted out a joke, and Boq and Fiyero were doubled over laughing, and Glinda—sweet, tiny, compassionate Glinda—had gripped her hand harder and leaned into her side, emanating warmth and light and peace into Elphaba. When the headmistress passed, Elphaba looked down at the blonde, who was meeting her eyes with a fierce kind of understanding. _It's okay. We're here. We've got you._

But now Elphaba was alone, left with nothing but the research she had been working on for months now. She didn't know how late it was, but she was tired. Her shoulders slumped and her eyelids were too heavy and she could feel exhaustion seeping into her bones. But at the same time, adrenaline was pouring through her. Her hand trembled as it scribbled across the paper. Her eyes darted from Dillamond's research to Morrible's work to her own notes. She flipped pages quickly, loudly. The pen scratched out letters and numbers, harsh and grating against the silence of the library. Ideas and thoughts clicked together, and she rushed to put it all down in writing before she could forget.

She stopped, her hand hovering above the paragraph she had just finished, and read quickly over the page. Her heart leapt to her throat and lodged itself there, leaving plenty of room for a rush of panic and thrill to bubble in her chest. Slowly, she lowered her pen and sat straighter, reading through it again.

Her hands reached up to brush through her hair and she leaned back, exhaling heavily.

This was it.


	54. Chapter 54

Elphaba forced herself to sleep on it. She desperately wanted to write to Dr. Dillamond then and there, in the silent library in the dead of night, but she made herself pack her bag and sneak back to Crage Hall. In the morning, she would read over everything again and make sure she wasn’t missing something. _Then_ she could write to Dillamond. But for now, she needed to sleep.

But sleep was easier said than done, and Elphaba’s thoughts continued to race long after she curled up in her bed. She rolled over to face Glinda, hoping that the blonde’s sleeping form would calm her down like always, but it was no use. Watching her roommate only seemed to increase her worries.

Not for the first time, she let herself wonder what would happen if she confided in Glinda. If the blonde knew about the research, about her letters to Dillamond, about the threat of not just Morrible, but the Wizard, too, what would she do? What would happen if she knew about the Animal safe houses throughout Oz, or about Peric and others like him, who travelled throughout the country doing everything they could for the Animals? The more Elphaba learned about the Animal bans, the more complicated and violent it all became. This was turning out to be less of a political issue, and more of the beginnings of war. A secret war, covered up and kept in the dark by the Wizard, but a war nonetheless. What would Glinda do if she realized that?

It frightened Elphaba that she had no idea. Would Glinda be fierce and loyal and passionate about it, like Elphaba was? How far would the blonde go to protect the green girl, to fight for her and with her? What would she sacrifice to stay by Elphaba’s side? This wasn’t some campus-wide reputation she would be leaving behind—it would be her whole life. Because more and more it seemed like Elphaba was preparing to give everything to this cause. Would Glinda be the same?

Or would she be frightened by it all? She hated violence, hated fighting. She doubted her own conviction, though Elphaba knew the blonde could be as passionate as she was. Would she want to stay with Elphaba, clinging to her side and demanding to go through this—whatever this was—with her? Or would she shake her head and back away, leaving the green girl to fight this battle on her own? Glinda knew better than anyone else why she was so passionate about the Animals’ rights. But was that enough to stay with her?

Elphaba screwed her eyes shut and pressed her fist to her mouth, trying desperately to breathe. She didn’t know which would be worse: Glinda staying with her and getting hurt, or Glinda getting scared and leaving her alone.

She wasn’t sure why she was thinking of this tonight. Something just told her that everything was about to change. If her plan worked, and she and Dillamond could prove what they’d been trying for months to prove, what would happen next? How could they get the information out across Oz? Would Madame Morrible try to stop them? Would the Wizard? Would the other Animals get involved? Would Boq and Fiyero keep helping? And what would Elphaba do? Continue to write letters to Dillamond, doing research in shadowy corners of the library until she couldn’t stay awake anymore? What else _could_ she do when she was here at Shiz, with Morrible breathing down her neck?

It was too much to think about. She had no answers, only questions. Every single moment, from the day Dillamond had given her that journal, had boiled down to this instant, this discovery. She had poured herself into this research for months now. Through becoming friends with Glinda and everyone else, through being home and dealing with the Eminency, through all these weird feelings that caused her to either blush or get angry around Glinda—it was the one constant in her life. Now that she had the answer—because she was _sure_ she had the answer—what would happen next?

She turned and shoved her face into the pillow, fighting with all her might not to cry out. For one absurd moment, she considered waking Glinda, just to feel the blonde’s arms around her. Maybe that would quiet the sudden screaming in her head. But if she did that, then Glinda would ask questions, and Elphaba wasn’t sure she could lie to her tonight. And she certainly wasn’t ready to find out the blonde’s reaction to all of this. _Would she stay or would she leave me?_

She would never be ready to find out.

 

***

 

Elphaba woke after only a few hours of sleep, but she didn’t care. She was alert and determined from the moment she opened her eyes. No matter what happened next, it was time.

She crept out of bed and pulled out the notes she had finished last night. It only took her a few minutes to read through them, making minor adjustments and filling in holes that her exhausted brain hadn’t seen last night. Then she was writing the letter to Dillamond. She told him about her idea, copying down all her notes and theories and equations that, a few months ago, would have soared over her head. She didn’t dare tell him where she’d gotten the information about false sentience, but everyone knew about Morrible’s tiktok creature. Dillamond would figure it out.

Glinda was still asleep by the time Elphaba dressed, stuck the letter in her bag, and slipped out of the room.

Elphaba spent the day focusing on her schoolwork. When she wasn’t in a classroom, she was studying in the library. It wasn’t that she had fallen behind in any classes—she wasn’t even close to that—but it provided the perfect excuse to avoid Boq and Fiyero and, on one occasion, Morrible. The boys were worried and a bit offended by her silence the past few days, and the headmistress seemed far too confident every time she met Elphaba’s eyes.

It was late that afternoon before she was able to send the letter. A small Robin was perched on a branch outside the library, peering through the window Elphaba was sitting by. After glancing around to make sure she was alone, she reached over and cracked the window open. The Robin flew down to the sill and cocked its head.

“Who are you?” Elphaba asked quietly. It had become a habit, a password of sorts, and always she received the same reply.

“Someone who owes Dillamond a favor.”

Elphaba reached into her bag and pulled out the letter. The Robin snatched it from her fingers and disappeared before the green girl could say another word. She stared out the window long after the Bird was gone, wondering if she wanted to know what Dillamond’s reply would be.

 

***

 

That night, she and Glinda ditched the boys and had dinner together in their room. They stayed up late, curled next to each other on Elphaba’s bed, telling stories and secrets, laughing wildly and whispering softly. Their hips were touching and their shoulders bumped against each other and their fingers remained tangled together the entire time. There was a moment, after Glinda had said something teasing and Elphaba had tickled an apology out of her, that the blonde looked up at her roommate, eyes darting between her endless dark eyes and her smiling green lips. Both girls inched forward, and Glinda could feel Elphaba’s breath, could smell the fresh strawberries they’d had with dinner…

Someone ran by in the hallway, their footsteps pounding, followed by the slamming of a door. The girls jerked back, breathing hard, suddenly reminded of a very real world that existed just outside their dorm room.

“It’s getting late,” Elphaba whispered, looking down at their clasped hands.

Glinda nudged her shoulder. “You never sleep anyway.”

And just like that, the moment was gone. They went back to talking and laughing as they always had, discussing dreams and fears that they already knew about each other. Because that’s what friends did, Elphaba reminded herself. They shared stories and secrets and maybe they held hands once in a while, but they did _not_ lean in until they could smell the vanilla perfume lingering on the other’s neck, and they certainly didn’t stare at each other’s soft lips, imagining, wondering how they would feel beneath her finger, beneath her own mouth…

But Elphaba couldn’t scold herself for long. Their conversation left no room for awkwardness—they knew each other too well for that—and Glinda’s hand never left her own, not for a second. If that was all that Elphaba could have, then she would gladly take it.

It was long past midnight by the time they fell into a comfortable silence, but tomorrow was Saturday, and they could stay like this all weekend, if they wanted. A while later, Elphaba realized that the blonde had fallen asleep on her shoulder. Without having the heart or even the tiniest bit of desire to move her to the other bed, Elphaba gently disentangled herself just long enough to lay them both down and pull a blanket over them. Glinda immediately curled up into Elphaba, and the green girl felt herself blush from head to toe.

She found Glinda’s hand again and intertwined their fingers once more. She was asleep within minutes, her mind not even bothering to think about the letter she had sent out hours ago.

In fact, she hadn’t thought of anything but her roommate all night long.

 

***

 

Elphaba didn’t start to worry until around mid-morning.

She should have gotten a reply from Dillamond by now. He had all of yesterday evening, through the night, and this morning to send a letter back, yet she hadn’t heard or seen anything. If something had happened to him, or even just to the letter she had sent…

Glinda spent most of the day watching Elphaba grow more and more anxious. Finally, when the green girl’s pacing was just about to drive her insane, she grabbed her hand and coaxed her out of the room for dinner. It was a quiet meal, just the two of them in a corner of the café, and Elphaba said maybe two words the entire time, but at least she had stopped shaking.

As they made their way back to the room, Glinda tried to summon her courage. She wanted to ask what was wrong, but she wanted an answer other than _just trust me._ She didn’t know what to do, or how to do it, just that she had to get the green girl to talk somehow.

In the end, she never had to figure it out.

Glinda unlocked the door and stepped through, Elphaba trailing a few steps behind her. She was about to turn and demand answers from her roommate, but something caught her eye, stopping her. It was large and dark, and it was flying right at her.

The blonde shrieked and ducked as the figure swooped over her. “Elphie!” she cried, trying to scramble to her feet.

Elphaba ran into the room and froze, her eyes widening. She looked at Glinda, then back at the figure, which had come to a halt and settled on the foot of her bed.

“Who are you?” The green girl’s voice was a little shaky, but nowhere near as surprised as Glinda had expected.

The creature cocked its head and stared at her. Glinda realized, as it leaned forward and dropped a paper from its mouth, that it was a Bird of sorts. “Someone who owes Dillamond a favor.” The Bird turned to look at Glinda, and the blonde was convinced she saw it smirk. “Sorry. Didn’t mean to frighten.”

It turned and hopped from the bed into the air, soaring out the window that Glinda swore had been closed when they left. She turned to Elphaba, who had snatched up the paper and was unfolding it with shaky fingers.

“W-what was that?”

Elphaba didn’t respond. She was too busy with the letter, although she had read it through three times already. There was nothing but a number, a street name, and a single word:

  _Midnight._

 

***

 

“What do you mean, you’re leaving?”

“Glinda, keep your voice down.”

The blonde crossed her arms over her chest. “This is ridiculous! It’s dark out, it’s late, Morrible’s been watching you, and you want to _leave campus_? Are you insane?”

Elphaba ignored her and continued stuffing papers into her bag. Glinda stepped closer. “Elphaba, listen to me. All this time I’ve respected your secrets. But this… That Bird knew Dr. Dillamond. You…you’ve been in contact with him, haven’t you? You’ve been talking to Dillamond this whole time, and you never told me?”

“Not this whole time,” Elphaba protested, refusing to look at her. “Just since winter break.”

“So you’ve been keeping it a secret this entire semester?”

“I’ve been keeping a lot of secrets this entire semester.”

The words stung. Glinda sat heavily on her bed. She didn’t even know what Elphaba was up to, but everything inside of her was telling her not to let the green girl go. Her voice shook and she stared at her feet as she spoke. “I-I know, there’s no point in asking this. But…I feel like this time…”

Elphaba turned toward her, voice soft. “Glinda. I’ve always asked you to trust me, and you have. If I could tell you everything, I would. But I _can’t_.”

The blonde nodded, sniffing. Elphaba shouldered her bag and pulled on her cloak, wrapping it tightly around herself. She stopped with her hand on the door and looked back at Glinda.

“I’ll tell you this much: Dillamond is nearby, and I’m going to meet him. Yes, it’s stupid and with Morrible acting the way she has lately, it’s dangerous. But I have to do it. So, if anyone asks…”

Glinda was terrified. Her thoughts were running wild, bringing up images of all the horrible things that could happen if Elphie left. She pictured Morrible’s cold gaze, the hard faces of the Gale Force, the terrors that came from scary stories she was told as a child—thoughts of shadows and blood and chilling screams and cold, empty bodies with glassy eyes that stared, unmoving…

“I’ll cover for you,” she heard herself say. Elphaba nodded and turned away. “Wait!”

She leapt from the bed and ran into the green girl’s arms. _Don’t go!_ she wanted to scream, but the words wouldn’t make it past her throat. She reached up and cupped an emerald cheek, her eyes meeting Elphaba’s. She was scared, they both were, and Glinda found herself wondering how much would be different when Elphaba returned.

Glinda pressed herself closer to Elphaba and felt green arms wrap tighter around her, their eyes never breaking contact. She could do it, she knew. She _should_ do it, because maybe then Elphaba would be guaranteed to come back safe and sound.

But she lost her nerve and pressed her forehead into Elphaba’s shoulder, settling for inhaling her scent and trying to burn this feeling into her memory.

“I have to go,” Elphaba whispered. Glinda nodded into her skin, holding on a moment longer before forcing herself to pull away. Elphaba reached out as the blonde stepped back, fingers reaching for her face, but then she lowered her arm and grabbed Glinda’s hand instead. “I’ll be back tomorrow morning.”

“Be careful,” Glinda whispered, staring down at their hands. Elphaba squeezed her fingers gently, then let her go.

Glinda couldn’t bear to look up as she slipped quietly out of the rom. She stumbled back until her knees hit Elphaba’s bed, forcing her to sit. She closed her eyes, imagining Elphaba’s fingers between hers, her lips beneath her own. She should have done it. She shouldn’t have been so afraid. But she _was_ , and now Elphaba was gone, sneaking away from campus in the dead of night to meet with their fired teacher about illegal research.

She took a shaky breath and closed her eyes. She wouldn’t sleep tonight. Not while Elphaba was gone.

_Please, Elphie. Come back to me soon._


	55. Chapter 55

_Running. Keep running._

Her legs ached. Her lungs burned. Her heart pounded in her throat, forcing her to swallow down the scream that was trying so hard to escape. She thought she saw people scattered in the corners of the alleyway—criminals and addicts and drunkards who barely looked up as she sprinted past. She had to get out of here, find cover, before—

_Don’t look back. Keep running._

 

***

 

It took a while to find the address Dillamond had given her. After clambering over the stone walls behind her dorm—she hadn’t dare use the front gates, for fear of being spotted—she had followed the road into town. It was a long way to go without a carriage, but she didn’t run into anybody and it was a good opportunity to center her thoughts, directing them away from Glinda and toward what was coming.

She hadn’t seen her professor in so long. The letters had helped, but she still missed him, still ached for his company and his conversations. Her heart beat faster with every step she took toward the town.

Elphaba ended up outside a shabby old bar in one of Shiz’s poorer neighborhoods. Putting on a mask of confidence, she pushed the door open and stepped into a crowded room. The light was dim, the floor was filthy, and the air smelled terrible. Ragged-looking men and women sat around tables or leaned up against the walls, laughing and swearing at the top of their lungs. There were plenty of Animals, too, wandering around in their own various states of drunkenness. A Badger chugged on a pint of beer, cheered on by a Dog and a Rabbit. A group of Mice were playing cards at a table in the corner. The bartender, an elderly Monkey, was telling a story to a mix of men and Animals.

But there were no Goats to be found. Elphaba wandered to an empty table and sat down, trying not to look too out of place.

Apparently it didn’t work, because only a minute or two later she was approached by a Fox, who leapt up onto her table and peered at the green girl. Elphaba did her best not to squirm under her gaze. “Can I help you?”

“You’re green.” It wasn’t a question; there wasn’t even any surprise in the Fox’s tone.

“How observant of you.”

The Fox bared its teeth. “He said you had a sharp tongue. I suppose you need to, if you’re going to survive in this world.”

“He?”

The Fox jumped down. “Come on. He’s waiting.”

She slipped expertly through the crowd and Elphaba struggled to keep track of her. They left the main room and wandered into a darker, cooler, slightly less filthy hallway. The Fox stopped at the foot of a set of stairs. “Go up to the top floor. It’ll be the last door on your left.”

“Thank you,” Elphaba said. The Fox just stared coldly at her before vanishing back down the hall. The green girl hesitated only for a moment, then she was climbing. The stairs creaked beneath her, and on the top story the floorboards seemed ready to collapse at any moment. She counted the doors she passed until she reached the fourth and final one. Her hand shook as she lifted it, and her knuckles had barely brushed the door when it swung open.

“Come in, quick!”

The voice was raspier and far more urgent than she had ever heard. She stepped into the room and Dillamond shut and locked the door. He turned around and, for the first time in months, student and teacher faced each other once more.

The Goat looked years older. He was slightly thinner, and his beard was longer, more ragged. His cream-colored fur was darker, matted with dirt, and his horns had a couple more chips in them than before. But his eyes still sparkled with intelligence, and when he looked at her, his smile was just as kind as she remembered.

“Elphaba, my dear girl,” he said. “It’s good to see you.”

“Dr. Dillamond,” she breathed, smiling. She didn’t know what else to say, but Dillamond didn’t seem to mind. He went over to a corner that was lined with pillows and blankets and settled into it, gesturing for her to sit. Elphaba took in the room as she did so. It was mostly bare, with a lamp or two, a single table along one wall, and a wardrobe in the corner next to it. There was a single window, tall enough to easily step through, that led out onto the roof. The blankets she and Dillamond sat on made a comfortable sort of nest, and she guessed that the room was designed specifically for an Animal to stay in. The thought made her smile.

Dr. Dillamond leaned forward, his eyes dancing. “We can speak freely here—that hallway’s so rickety you could hear someone coming for miles. Now, tell me everything.”

It was surprisingly easy. Elphaba started from the day he left and told him…all of it. How Glinda had changed her name and became her friend, how Boq and Fiyero and Crope and Tibbett started hanging out with them, how she’d buried herself in Dillamond’s journal, how hard she’d fought to keep it a secret from Glinda. She told him about winter break, how she’d given up the Eminency, how she’d met Peric and became friends with him faster than she thought was possible, how lost she was before Peric had suggested writing that first letter. She talked about coming back to Shiz and finding her desk searched through, about Morrible breathing down their necks and dropping subtle threats and glaring at her whenever they saw each other. She told him about how close she and Glinda were, and how the blonde was worrying about her more and more. She told him about Boq figuring everything out and demanding to help her, and about Fiyero eavesdropping and sneaking into Morrible’s office without telling them. She told him about that night they stayed up in the basement of the library, copying notes and praying that the headmistress wouldn’t find out. And finally, she told him about her idea—all the parts of sentience that Morrible had managed to mimic in Grommetik, and how they compared to the conscious thought of living creatures. Dillamond listened intently the entire time, his beard twitching occasionally. He only spoke when she finished.

“I want to see your notes.”

She reached for her bag and started spreading out the pages between them. Together, they sorted through the research, pulling sources together and strengthening their theories. Dillamond added in a few points and cleared up some of Elphaba’s weaker details. They worked quickly and efficiently, and it wasn’t long before Elphaba stopped, propping her elbows on her knees and resting her chin on her fist. Dillamond leaned back and met her eyes.

“Why, Miss Elphaba. I believe you’ve done it.”

The green girl closed her eyes, opened them again, and stared at the mess of papers between them. “You think so? This could be it?”

The Goat smiled. “Your idea is brilliant, and the theories to back it up are unquestionable. This isn’t something we can test, not here at Shiz, but any creature in their right mind would have to admit this is an extremely valid hypothesis. Show this to any scholar in Oz, and they’d be insane not to test it.” His beard twitched and his eyes dulled suddenly. “But…”

Elphaba looked up at him. “But, it isn’t a scholar we’re trying to persuade. It’s the Wizard.”

“The Wizard can’t be persuaded,” said Dillamond. “At least, not by us. He has put too much into the bans. If he reverses them, he loses power and wealth and, most importantly, the people’s confidence in him.”

“The only way he’ll grant the Animals equal rights is if the people demand it,” Elphaba said quietly. “But the Ozians—or, at least, the Gillikinese people who actually have a say in this country—are gaining too much from the Animals’ oppression.”

“Exactly.”

“So…what? We have the proof—as much of it as we can get on our own. But what do we do with it? How can we prove equality if no one will listen?”

“Some will listen. It will be difficult, and in many instances useless, but some will see this research and change their minds. And some is always better than none.”

“But _some_ isn’t enough to change our entire society.”

“No.” Dillamond studied her for a long moment. His gaze was calm, steady, and he barely moved as he regarded her. Elphaba shifted a little, waiting for him to decide whether or not he was going to say what he was thinking. “I’m going to tell you something, Elphaba. But I want you to understand, this doesn’t mean our work has been for nothing. No matter what happens, never give up on this research. Do you understand me?”

His voice was firm and grim. Slowly, Elphaba nodded. Dillamond kept staring at her, eyes drilling through her, as he spoke.

“There is a…group, based in the Emerald City, known only as the Resistance. It consists of Animals and humans alike, all fighting for equality. Not researching, not protesting, _fighting_. They are, perhaps, Oz’s best kept secret. The Wizard has had his best forces searching for years, but he has yet to find them.”

“What do they do?” Elphaba asked. Dillamond’s beard twitched and he shifted his hooves in front of him.

“A lot of things. Attacking buildings, kidnapping Gale Force members… They are not always merciful, Elphaba. They are fighting a war—one that hasn’t reached the rest of Oz yet. But it will.”

Elphaba was quiet for a while. A Resistance in Oz, working underground, fighting against the Wizard. How long had they been around? How much damage have they done? What victories have they achieved, only to be covered up by the Wizard so the public wouldn’t know of their existence? Elphaba didn’t know what to ask first, but then she thought of something else. “That’s where Peric went, isn’t it?”

The Goat tilted his head toward her. “I told him about it, yes. He had been pulling his own little acts of rebellion for years. It’s a dangerous business to get into, but we both agreed that it seemed to be the right place for him.”

_A dangerous business_. Elphaba looked down at her hands. “Why are you telling me this?”

“Because it is vital that you are informed. I have a few friends in the Resistance—some of whom have been helping carry our letters back and forth these past few weeks—and they know of this research. They know of _you_.”

“Does Morrible know?” she asked. “Does she know about the Resistance?”

“Undoubtedly. She is closer to the Wizard than you think.”

“How close?”

The Goat frowned. “I’m not entirely sure. But he uses her to keep an eye on Oz’s rising potential. Younger generations are far more likely to cause disobedience or revolution, and he likes being able to stop opposition before it fully takes hold. It’s much easier to keep a hold on his power that way.”

“Maybe,” Elphaba said darkly. “But it could easily backfire. The tighter hold you have on youth, the harder they try to break free.”

“Yes, but that’s why he has Morrible in the first place,” said Dillamond. “His influence is indirect, so fewer students feel as though they’re being controlled.”

The green girl shook her head. “Why? Why does he need to manipulate all of Oz? Why does he need to take everything away from the Animals? Why does he need to further his power like this?”

“We may never know that,” Dillamond said gently. “But from my experience, only those who are weak seek power so greedily.”

Elphaba stared. “You…you think he has no real power? That this is all fake…it’s just an act?”

“I don’t know. But he has gone to great lengths to ensure that no one ever questions him or his authority.”

She sat back, her mind reeling. A Resistance in the Emerald City, a war brewing just beneath Oz’s surface, a Wizard who has spent years building a reputation to hide the fact that he was powerless… “This is…”

“A lot to take in, I know.”

“Do you think Peric ever found the Resistance? If they’re so secret, how do they get new members?”

The Goat chuckled quietly. “You make your intentions known, and they find you.”

Elphaba brought her knees to her chest and rested her chin on them. “You said they knew about this research, about me. Will I have to go there someday?”

Now Dillamond looked troubled. “A part of me sincerely hopes not. But…yes. I believe you will.” He sighed. “I always knew you were destined for great things, Elphaba. I used to think it was just research, that you would be one of the greatest minds in Oz. But now…now I realize there’s much more to it. There is trouble brewing in Oz, and I fear that it will find you before all is said and done.”

“It always does,” Elphaba muttered, hugging her legs tighter. “What do I do now?”

She sounded so small, so lost and uncertain. Dillamond’s eyes softened and he set a hoof on her shoulder. “You finish your studies. Learn all you possibly can. If you are able to pull off this research in just your first year, I can only imagine the things you will do in the years to come.”

“But…Morrible.” Elphaba swallowed and met the Goat’s eyes. “She’s on to me. She _knows_ I’m up to something. How am I supposed to continue working with her watching me?”

Dillamond sighed and shook his head. “I don’t know. But…” His eyes moved past her and toward the door. Outside, down the hallway, there was a faint creak of the floorboards.

The Goat climbed to his feet and Elphaba followed suit. He looked at her, then at the door, then back at her. “Get the research. Quickly. You have to leave.”

“What?”

“Hurry!”

Elphaba knelt and began stuffing all their work into her bag. Dillamond stayed standing in the middle of the room, his ears twitching.

There was another creak, louder, closer. Dillamond nodded at the window as Elphaba stood and shouldered her bag. “Go. There’s a tree near the edge of the roof you can climb down.” His beard quivered and his eyes darted around the room, but his voice was steady.

“I’m not leaving,” Elphaba hissed.

“It wasn’t a request.” He lowered his head and nudged her with his horns. Elphaba backed up to the window and fumbled with the latch. It swung open silently, but still she hesitated. Dillamond had turned back to face the door. The creaking had stopped. The world seemed to be holding its breath.

“Dr. Dillamond—”

“Go. _Now_.”

She climbed out onto the roof and looked back. She was about to say something, do something— _anything_ except just run away, but then a voice muttered outside the door and the lock clicked open. In that last moment, Dillamond looked over his shoulder and gave her the most hardened glare she’d seen in her life. She had never seen his face so dark, his eyes so hard. Nothing—not the hateful mask of her father, or the stern disappointment of her sister, or even the vicious scowl Glinda had when she was worked up—could compare to the look Dillamond was giving her in that instant.

Elphaba backed away from the window.

Dillamond turned away just as the door was pushed open. Elphaba caught a glimpse of a stiff dress, a shadow, the hard glint of a knife.

She clamped a hand over her mouth and ran.


	56. Chapter 56

Glinda was utterly disappointed and not at all surprised when she woke up to an empty room the next morning. It was early—she could still see the last tinges of pink from the sunrise out her window—but she climbed wearily out of bed anyway. A few hours of broken, restless sleep were all she was going to get for now. Besides, the sooner she was up and doing things, the sooner Elphaba would be back.

She dressed slowly, meticulously, pulling on her dress and shoes with a calculated sort of grace. She went to the bathroom and grabbed her powder jar, but then stopped and studied herself in the mirror. She held her reflection’s gaze for a good long while before setting the makeup down and going back to the room, where she stripped off her dress and grabbed an oversized sweater from the wardrobe instead.

Glinda pulled her hair back into a loose bun and grabbed the architecture book Elphaba had gotten for her months ago. She’d read through the entire thing twice now, but she was bored and lonely and had nothing better to do, so she picked up a sketchbook and settled into her bed, losing herself in the delicate art of building structure and design.

As mid-morning came and went, Glinda started to get restless. She tried not to be worried, not yet, but it was useless. She wondered where Elphaba was, if she was okay, when she would be back. The work in her sketchbook became sloppier and she eventually snapped it shut and tossed it to the side. She pressed her palms into her eyes and forced herself to take a deep breath. She had to get out of this room, preferably before the worry drove her insane.

She decided to find Boq and the others. They tended to eat lunch early on Sundays, before the café got crowded. Maybe she could relax with the boys’ humor and carefree conversation.

As she made her way across campus, Glinda couldn’t help but notice there were more people wandering around than was usual for a Sunday morning. The air seemed to hum with a quiet energy, and everywhere students were huddling close and speaking excitedly. Maybe it was the fact that the weather was getting warmer, and it wasn’t too bitterly cold to be outside.

Or maybe, Glinda thought as she wandered into the café and found her friends at their usual table, it was something much worse.

Crope and Tibbett weren’t smiling. That was the first thing that caught her attention. Their eyes were dark and heavy and a shadow seemed to linger on their faces. It was an expression she had never seen on either of them, even in their rare moments of seriousness, and it quite honestly frightened the blonde. She looked away from them at Fiyero, who had his elbows propped up on the table and was running his fingers through his hair. He was clearly stressed out, another look that didn’t quite fit.

Worst of all was Boq, who jumped to his feet the moment he saw her. His eyes were tinged red and his cheeks were flushed. When he spoke his voice was sharp, a tone he had never used, least of all on Glinda. “Where is Elphaba?”

The blonde hesitated, stepping back. “I-in the room, sleeping,” she lied. “She was up late last night, and she isn’t feeling very well.”

“Does she know?” Boq was demanding and urgent, but Glinda was as confused as ever.

“Know what?”

Fiyero grabbed Boq’s elbow and pulled him back into his seat before the Munchkin could respond. “Calm down. Glinda doesn’t know anything. How could she?”

“How could I know _what_?” the blonde asked, pulling out a chair and sitting down. She looked at each of the boys in turn, and they all avoided her eyes. “What’s going on?”

“We need to tell Elphaba,” Boq said, squirming in his chair. “She needs to know.”

“If you go in there, she’ll bite your head off,” Glinda told him. “Let her sleep. Oz knows she needs it.”

“But—”

“Come off it, Boq,” Fiyero said quietly. “Doesn’t she deserve a few more hours of peace? She’ll find out soon enough, anyway.”

“Find out _what_?” Glinda all but hissed, fed up.

Fiyero looked up, opened his mouth, then looked away. Boq glared down at the table and cleared his throat. “It’s…Dr. Dillamond,” the Munchkin said hollowly. “He’s dead.”

Glinda felt her insides disappear, only to be replaced by disbelief, then sorrow, then, stronger than anything else, panic. _Where’s Elphaba?_

“What do you mean, he’s dead?” she asked. “How? When? _Why_?”

Fiyero shook his head. “No one knows for sure, but the rumors are flying around campus. Apparently he was in town, staying at some old inn. He was murdered in his room, everyone’s been saying. Someone slit his throat. They found him in a pool of blood.”

Glinda glanced at the clock. It was almost noon. Elphaba should have been back by now. Especially if Dillamond…

She shook her head. “Who did it?”

“No one knows,” said Boq. He exhaled and buried his face in his hands. Tibbett put a hand on his shoulder wordlessly.

“ _Why_?” Glinda breathed, but Fiyero just shrugged. Something told her he knew why, but then again, so did she. The research. Animal rights.

“I…think I’ve lost my appetite,” Glinda whispered, pushing away from the table. They all stared at her, but no one said a word as she turned and left. Her vision was starting to blur as she rushed through campus, and she didn’t see the trio standing outside of Crage Hall until it was too late.

“Look who it is. We’ve been searching all over for you, Glinda. Where’s the green freak?”

“Go away, Pfannee.”

Milla snorted. “What, are you two fighting? Is that why she’s not with you?”

“Even if we were, it wouldn’t be any of your business,” Glinda snapped. She made for the front door, but the girls stepped in, blocking her way.

“What’s the rush, Glinda? We just wanted to ask you something.”

“Pfannee, maybe we shouldn’t…” Shenshen trailed off, but everyone ignored her completely.

“Whatever it is, I’m not going to answer,” Glinda hissed. “Now let me through.”

“She’s cranky,” Milla giggled. “I guess she already knows.”

“Yes, but does the _vegetable_ know?” Pfannee asked. “Have you told her about it yet?”

_Don’t say it,_ Glinda thought, her fingers curling into fists. _Don’t you dare say it._

“I’ll take that as a _no_ ,” Milla giggled. “Why not, Glinda? Trying to protect her?”

“Or does she already know?” Pfannee smirked. “Is that why she’s not here? She’s holed up in your room, bawling her eyes out over that stupid old G—”

“ _Shut up!_ ” The scream tore from her throat, along with all the terror and anger that had been building up, and Glinda felt magic rush through her. The front doors banged open and the wind rippled and swirled around them. The girls shrieked, throwing their arms over their heads and scrambling to get away from the dorm.

It was over as soon as they were gone. Glinda stumbled forward as the last of her energy drained out of her. She realized that her cheeks were wet, though she couldn’t remember when she had started to cry. She had to get out of here before someone came to investigate all the noise. She couldn’t afford to look suspicious, not now. At this moment, her priority was covering for Elphaba. No one could know the green girl was gone.

Somehow, she made her way up to her room and slipped inside. The emptiness washed over her, forcing her to the ground. She curled up with her back against the door and buried her face in her arms. She wanted to scream again, but she was too exhausted. She wanted to get up and go looking for Elphie, but fear had settled into her bones, pinning her in place.

_She’s still alive,_ Glinda thought. _She has to be. If she wasn’t, then everyone would be talking about her, too._ Unless, of course, Morrible didn’t want people to know Elphaba was…

The blonde bit back a cry and shook her head. Elphaba was alive. Glinda would know, somehow, if she wasn’t. She was alive.

But alive didn’t mean safe. What if Morrible wanted information? What if she decided Elphaba was too useful to kill? What if she was questioning her right now, and the green girl was refusing to give in? What if—

“Stop!” Glinda cried, pressing her hands to her ears as if that could block out her thoughts. _You should have stopped her,_ she thought viciously. _Why did you let her go? Why didn’t you—?_

“Stop,” she whimpered, grabbing at her hair. This wasn’t helping. None of this was helping. She needed Elphaba here, now, but the green girl was gone. She was hurt, or lost, or with Morrible, or…or…

“Please, Elphie,” Glinda whispered. “ _Please_. Just come back to me.”

 

***

 

It was starting to get dark when Glinda forced herself into the bathroom. She splashed water on her face and redid her bun. Her mind was spinning, but her body just felt numb. Her heart throbbed dully, each beat paired with a desperate, unanswerable question. _Where is she? Is she okay? Why did you let her go? Is she hurt? Is she coming back? Why? Why? Why?_

Her movements were almost mechanical as she slipped on a pair of flats, grabbed her purse, and wandered out of the dorm. She hadn’t eaten anything all day, and she supposed dinner would be a good idea—even if her stomach twisted in on itself at the thought of food.

She spent a good ten minutes wandering around the café, trying to find something that she could force down. When that failed, she settled for gulping down a glass of water and leaving.

Glinda looked up at the quickly darkening sky as she stepped out of the café. _I’ll be back tomorrow morning,_ Elphaba had said. The blonde pressed her lips together and forced the tears back down. Nothing made sense. She _knew_ Elphaba was still alive—she had to be—but where was she? Glinda could understand her being back later than she’d promised, especially if something went wrong. But if news of Dillamond’s death had travelled back to campus, then shouldn’t Elphaba have, too?

What was perhaps most worrying was that she hadn’t seen Morrible all day. Glinda had no doubt the headmistress was involved. But could Morrible have known that Elphaba was with Dillamond? And if she knew that, wouldn’t she be looking for the green girl today? Glinda had seen no sign of her—did that mean she’d already found Elphie?

The blonde shook her head and screwed her eyes shut. She picked up her pace, determined to get back to Crage Hall as quickly as possible, but instead ran into something warm and solid.

She opened her eyes to see Boq in front of her. He grabbed her elbow to steady both of them. “Glinda!”

“Sorry, Boq,” she said, trying to step around him. “I didn’t see you.”

“Wait!” His grip on her elbow tightened and she stopped, looking down at her feet. “Where is Elphaba?” The panic in his tone almost matched her own.

“I told you earlier, she’s in the room.” Glinda still couldn’t bring herself to look up, but she couldn’t twist out of his grip, either.

“She’s been there all day?”

“She’s been stressed lately. She needed a day off.”

“Does she know?” Boq’s voice fell, hushed. “Has she heard about…?”

“Yes,” she said. “And that hasn’t made anything better. So if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to get back to her now.”

Boq stepped in front of her and tilted his head to meet her eyes. “Look, I know she’s upset, but this is important. I _need_ to talk to her. I—”

Glinda had had enough. She glanced quickly around, then grabbed his arm and dragged him off the sidewalk and around the corner of a nearby building. “She’s not here, okay?”

“What do you mean she’s not here?”

“Shh!”

Boq scowled but lowered his voice. “Where is she, then?”

“I don’t _know_!” Glinda’s lip trembled and she wrapped her arms around her waist. “She told me to cover for her. She…she went to meet with Dr. Dillamond, late last night, and she hasn’t come back.”

The Munchkin gaped at her. “But that means…for all we know, she could be…”

“She’s not.”

“But—”

“ _Don’t_.” Glinda hissed. “She’s not. She can’t be.”

They stared at each other. Glinda’s gaze was fierce, unwavering, yet she looked on the verge of tears. Boq wanted desperately to believe her and, for the moment, he did. He sighed and ran a hand through his hair, keeping it up to cradle the back of his head.

“You should get back to the room,” Boq said eventually. “Just in case she…”

“Yeah.” Neither of them made a move to leave. The Munchkin fidgeted.

“And…stay away from Morrible. If you can.”

The blonde’s face softened. “I know.”

Their eyes met again. Boq’s eyebrows came together. “Glinda,” he said quietly. “How much do you…?”

She considered the question for a moment. How much did she know, really? “More than Elphaba thinks,” she said finally. “But less than she fears.”

He nodded. They stood there awkwardly for a moment, then Glinda gently stepped around the Munchkin and left, hugging her sweater to her chest. Boq fell against the side of the building and closed his eyes, breathing in deeply. He listened to Glinda’s footsteps fade away and, for the first time, realized he couldn’t hear the click of high heels against the concrete.


	57. Chapter 57

There was no moon that night, and Glinda didn't bother lighting the lamp between her and Elphaba's bed.

When she was younger, she used to be terrified of the dark. If someone wasn't in the room with her, she had to have a lamp on. The curtains on her window always remained open to let the silvery light from the moon and stars in. Deep down, she knew there was nothing to be afraid of, but the feeling of being alone, the sound of her movements in the stillness, the weight of a shadowy empty room enveloping her…it would paralyze the young blonde.

She had outgrown the fear years ago, but that night it came back in full force. She sat on Elphaba's bed, curled up against the wall, staring blindly across the room. The darkness pressed in on her, engulfing her lungs and turning her bones to lead. She could feel her pulse in her throat. The sound of her shallow breath echoed throughout the room, somehow making the silence deeper. She knew she should get up and turn on a light, grab a book, do _something_ other than just sit here and drown in her terror, but she couldn't get her limbs to work. It was just as well. If she moved, she would disturb the darkness.

At the moment, nothing seemed worse.

The day had crawled by, agonizingly slow, but the night came all too fast. Shiz was quiet, the rumors finally slowing down as everyone found out about Dillamond's death. But despite the stillness that had settled across campus as the sun fell, Glinda's room was charged. She felt _wrong_ , as if her heart had been moved just slightly to the left—not far enough to say what was off, but enough to be clearly out of place.

Nothing felt right, nothing made sense, and she found her thoughts starting to scatter, pulling apart into panicked little fragments. As she struggled to take in air, only one thing was certain: she couldn't survive another night alone.

Eventually her body ached and her eyes itched enough to get her to move. She didn't go far, just shifted on Elphaba's bed until she was curled up on the drab sheets and hugging the green girl's pillow to her chest. It smelled like her, and Glinda wasn't sure if she was relieved or tormented by the familiar scent. She clung to the dark fabric, buried her face in it, and bit back a whimper. _Where are you?_ she thought desperately. _Where are you?_

 

***

 

Her head was throbbing. Her eyes were dull, heavy, all but unmoving. Her back was sore. Her arms seemed permanently locked around her knees. Her skin stung from the fine sheet of sweat and dew that had covered her in the last twenty-four hours.

She wasn't asleep, but she wasn't awake, either. Her mind had shut down, acting only to keep her heart and lungs working. If anyone had seen her, they probably would have thought she was dead. If she couldn't feel her own silent, shallow breaths, she would have thought the same. Her stupor ended only when she realized she couldn't see.

Finally, _finally,_ night had fallen enough for her to sneak back to campus.

It was a while after the realization before she moved. She leaned forward until she was on her hands and knees, then slowly, painfully, climbed to her feet. She pulled her cloak tighter around herself, concealing as much green skin as possible, and began creeping through the shadows.

After being curled up in a tight ball for so long, her entire body screamed in protest at the movement. She did her best to stretch out as she walked, focusing on the tension in her muscles, the way her joints cracked and popped. As her body woke up, so did her mind, and the thoughts she had been repressing all day came swirling to the surface. She tried to push them away, but a few broke through: the looming alleyways of Shiz's darker neighborhoods, the burn of her lungs as her eyes darted around, looking for cover, the shifting of dirt beneath her boots as she hit the forest floor, branches clawing at her face, tangling in her braid. The single thought of _running, keep running._

She had finally collapsed against the trunk of one of the larger trees that made up the woods outside town, but she couldn't—no, she wouldn't—sleep. Not out in the open like this. Not after everything that had just happened.

All day she had spent curled up on the ground, listening, waiting for Morrible to find her and finish the job. Maybe it would be quick, painless—one minute she'd be there and the next she'd be an empty, bleeding corpse on the ground. Or maybe the headmistress would draw it out, approaching her slowly, drilling her for information before finally delivering merciful death.

Elphaba shook her head, dismissing the thoughts before they could take hold and destroy whatever control she had left. She was still alive, and she was almost back to the school. If Morrible had looked for her, she didn't find her. And that was all she needed for now.

Her boots scraped softly against the brick road. She concentrated on each footstep, matching her breathing with her pace. Soon, to her immense relief, she was facing the stone walls of the campus. Just over the top, she could make out the roof of Crage Hall.

Green fingers ran up the wall, finding a hold in various cracks and crevices. The stone was cold. She focused on that, instead of how dark Dr. Dillamond's eyes were when he told her to run. Her knee scraped against the rock as she hoisted herself up and over the top. She focused on that, not the glint of a knife she had barely seen.

She landed with a gentle thud on the other side and made her way to the dorm. She was back where she belonged, at Shiz.

_Where Morrible is._

Elphaba grit her teeth, pushing the thoughts away. She could hold it together. She could keep it in, at least until she was back in the safety of her room, back with Glinda.

Thinking of her roommate helped. The blonde would certainly be asleep by now. The image of Glinda nestled peacefully beneath overly pink blankets calmed her down.

It would be okay. She would be okay.

She pulled out her key as she reached the room. The action seemed absurdly normal, given everything she had experienced in the last day. As quietly as she could, she unlocked the door and slipped inside.

The first thing she noticed was that it was impossibly dark. The second thing was that Glinda's bed was empty. The third was that her bed was not.

"…Elphie?" Glinda's voice was soft, almost disbelieving. In the moment it took for Elphaba to meet her roommate's eyes, time seemed to freeze.

Then it exploded.

The blonde launched herself off of Elphaba's bed and landed in her arms. The green girl barely had time to react as she stumbled back against the door. Before she could say anything, Glinda grabbed her face and pulled it close, pressing their lips together.

Elphaba forgot how to breathe.

Glinda pulled away after a couple seconds. She thought, ridiculously, that Elphaba looked adorable while dazed and confused. Then her hands moved down to clutch Elphaba's shoulders, her fingers digging into green skin.

"Where in _Oz_ were you?" she demanded. "Dammit Elphaba, you said you'd be back this _morning,_ not in the middle of the night!"

The blonde's swearing brought Elphaba back to reality. She brought her hands up to grab her roommate's. "Glinda, hush. You'll wake the whole floor."

"I don't care!" she shouted, shaking Elphaba's hands off and shoving her harder against the door. "Where have you _been?!_ Everyone's been talking, and, and, and when we heard about Dillamond, I thought—you hadn't come back and I-I-I thought—"

Just like that, everything Elphaba had been pushing away came back, flooding through her until it was all too much. She sucked in a breath and fell to her knees in front of the blonde, wrapping her arms around herself.

Glinda was with her instant, following her down and pulling her close. Her anger—if it could be called that; she was never actually mad—vanished as she cradled the green girl. "It's okay, Elphie," she murmured, rubbing soothing circles across her back. "You're home. I'm right here. You're safe now."

Elphaba didn't trust herself to speak. She bit hard on her lip and buried her face in Glinda's neck, stifling any sound that would escape, and focused with all her might on night crying in front of her roommate. Glinda just held her as she trembled and coughed, choking on her suppressed sobs. Every once in a while she brought her arm up to wipe away her own tears, and always she kept whispering, _I'm here, I've got you, you're safe now, you're home._

_Home._ Eventually Elphaba quieted enough for Glinda to pull back. She pushed the raven hair back from Elphaba's eyes and let her fingers linger. The green girl shivered.

"Oh, Elphie, you're freezing." Glinda took Elphaba's hands and pulled her to her feet, then held her arms out and inspected her. "Are you hurt? Are you bleeding anywhere? Are you burnt? Oz, you're still trembling. Let me…"

The green girl stayed silent as Glinda sat her down on her own bed and gently pulled off her cloak and boots. "Do you want to change? Here, let me grab you a night gown."

Elphaba took the gown and dressed clumsily as Glinda darted to the bathroom, reappearing seconds later with a jar of oil. She set Elphaba back down on the bed and crawled behind her. The green girl was clearly exhausted—she hadn't slept in two days—but tension still rolled off her. Glinda opened the oil and warmed it between her hands before slowly rubbing it into Elphie's back and shoulders. Her fingers moved tenderly across the smooth green skin, soothing her with every touch. Eventually Elphaba slumped against her, and Glinda moved her hands up to comb through her hair. She rubbed little circles into her neck and scratched gently at her scalp. An occasional sniff or whimper would escape the green girl, but Glinda would just press a light kiss to her shoulder or cheek and keep working.

It was still dark, but she was no longer alone. And at the moment, she wouldn't let herself be afraid. She focused on Elphaba, wanting nothing more than to make the horrors she had seen disappear for a little while.

When the green girl was practically asleep on her shoulder, Glinda shifted and lowered them both down to the bed. She pulled the blanket up around them and snuggled in close to Elphie so that their feet tangled together and their noses were almost touching. She reached down and held Elphaba's hand. It was so simple, so familiar, and the green girl let out a soft sigh.

Her eyes wandered Elphaba's face. When she thought she was asleep, she brought her free hand up to cup an emerald cheek. Elphaba's eyes fluttered open and met hers. She didn't speak—her face didn't move at all—but her eyes reached out for the blonde, screaming all the words she would never bring herself to say.

Glinda's fingers twitched against her skin, and she leaned in until she could feel Elphaba's breath on her lips. If it had been daytime, one of them might have questioned it, but tonight there wasn't a trace of light in the room.

It was soft and sweet and pure, despite everything leading up to it. Elphaba's eyes were closed when Glinda pressed one last kiss to her lips and pulled back. Her thumb reached up and brushed the single tear at the corner of Elphaba's eye before it could fall.

"Sleep now, Elphie," she breathed. "You're home."

Elphaba's arm wrapped around her waist and pulled her closer. Glinda let her eyes fall shut.

_We both are._


	58. Chapter 58

A group of older students decided to hold a memorial service for Dr. Dillamond. They gathered in the main square and scattered lily petals across the bricks. A few people stepped forward and told stories of their old professor and what he had meant to them.

Elphaba stood stoically near the back of the crowd. Glinda was at her side, clinging to her hand. Boq sat on the edge of the sidewalk, staring blankly into the square. Fiyero and Crope and Tibbett were a few feet away, their hands folded and heads bowed.

Many of the teachers showed up, including—to Elphaba's unsurprised horror—Madame Morrible. The headmistress kept her distance from the center of the crowd. She watched the proceedings with a hint of amusement, and more than once she turned to look at the green girl. Elphaba gripped Glinda's hand and pretended not to notice.

When it was over and the students were starting to disperse, Glinda tugged on her hand and moved forward. The green girl didn't question it, and the boys followed silently. The blonde took a small jar out of her purse—which Elphaba didn't even remember her packing in the first place—and scooped up a few flower petals from one of the leftover baskets. Then she slipped her hand back into Elphaba's and led them away from the square.

Elphaba didn't realize what was happening until they were wandering through some far corner of campus. The boys shuffled around to form a loose semicircle around the tree they had stopped at and waited.

Boq reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a smooth, flat stone. He looked down at it as he spoke. "We figured Morrible would get rid of anything the students did in the square, but we had to do something for him. I doubt she'll ever find it way out here." He ran his hand over the stone, then closed his eyes and passed it to Fiyero.

The Vinkan held it gently for a moment before passing it to Tibbett, who mumbled something that sounded vaguely like a blessing and passed it to Crope, who passed it on to Glinda.

The blonde turned to Elphaba as if to say something, but then shook her head and silently handed her the stone, letting their fingers brush as she passed it off. The green girl stared down at it. It was heavier than she thought, carved and polished from some type of dark rock. Elphaba traced the top, letting her fingers run over the engraved letters. There was no name, no date, just an inscription:

_They can silence our words, but never our hearts._

She clutched it to her chest and walked forward to kneel by the tree. She dug her fingers into the cold dirt and scraped away a place just large enough to set the stone in, settled between the roots. For a moment she stayed there on the ground, almost forgetting about her friends standing behind her.

Glinda took out her jar and passed her hand over the top. Flames sprung to life inside the glass, but instead of being a faint pink like usual, they were a soft mix of blue and deep grey. They danced in the jar, hovering above the lily petals, which remained untouched. Slowly, the blonde went to kneel by Elphaba. She placed the jar next to the stone and rested her head on Elphie's shoulder.

Crope wrapped an arm around Tibbett and pulled him close. Fiyero clasped his hands and stared up at the sky. Boq lowered himself to his knees and bowed his head. Glinda's fingers found the spaces between Elphaba's and stayed there.

The group remained by the tree for a long time, standing silently, just breathing. It was all they could do.

 

***

 

Elphaba gently disentangled her arm from Glinda's grasp. "Go on ahead. I have to…"

The blonde looked like she was about to argue—the mere thought of being alone in their room again was terrifying—but she saw Elphaba's gaze flash to Boq, standing a few feet away. "I'll grab something for dinner and meet you in the room."

"I won't be long," Elphaba whispered, bending her head and kissing the corner of Glinda's mouth. She pulled away, looking simultaneously desperate for more and terrified of trying anything else. Glinda squeezed her hand and let it go.

Boq was trying hard to pretend that he hadn't been watching the entire exchange. Elphaba gave him a warning look as they fell into step, but it was too tired to be very threatening.

"Fire away," she sighed. The two made their way to a bench on the edge of the square, and she sat heavily on the cold, twisted metal. "I'm sure you have questions."

"I do," said Boq, sitting next to her. "But I'm not sure you have all the answers."

"I have some."

"What happens now?"

Elphaba glared ahead and swore at him under her breath. Boq gave a half-hearted smile. "See?"

"Yes, you're very clever."

"I'm sorry, Elphie," the Munchkin said softly. "I'm just trying to make sense of it all."

"Yeah, well, so am I."

They fell silent, staring out across the square until Boq found his voice again.

"How long?"

"Sorry?"

"How long were you talking to him?"

Elphaba's brow furrowed. "Who says I was talking to him?"

"Glinda told me where you had gone. I pieced the rest together. It makes sense, really. Some days you would just come to me with answers that had stumped us only a couple nights before. You were meeting with him, weren't you?"

She pressed her lips together. "Letters. We were writing letters back and forth. It started over break." She brought a hand to her forehead and pressed hard, rubbing away the beginnings of a headache. "No one was supposed to know I was gone."

"It's not Glinda's fault," Boq said quickly. "She didn't really have a choice. I was demanding to talk to you, so she pulled me aside and told me." He looked over at the silent green girl. "She was devastated, you know. When you didn't come back that morning, and we were hearing all the rumors. She told us you were just in the room, not feeling well, but she was obviously distraught—panicking, even. I thought it was just the news of Dr. Dillamond, until she told me you were missing."

"Yeah, I kind of got that last night." She had meant to sound amused, but it just came out numb.

"What happened?" Boq asked.

"L-last night?" Elphaba felt herself blush, remembering Glinda leaping into her arms, pressing her against the door and kissing the breath out of her.

"No, when you were in town. With Dillamond."

She shook her head. "I…a lot. A lot happened." Boq waited silently. She rubbed her forehead and sighed. "We talked about the research, and…what could be done with it." _Some will listen, but not enough. Not nearly enough._ "And he…told me some other things about the issue of Animal rights." _The Resistance. Fighting in the Emerald City._ "And then…" She gulped and let out a shaky breath.

Boq brought his knees to his chest. "Did you see her? Did she see you?"

"Barely," Elphaba whispered. "And…I'm not sure. If she did, she didn't follow me."

"What happens now?" Boq asked again, not expecting an answer.

_Finish your studies,_ Dillamond had told her. _Learn all you possibly can._ She thought of Morrible, sitting in her office, washing the blood off a glinting knife, and wondered if learning anything more at Shiz was even possible.

"We go on," Elphaba breathed. She cleared her throat and went on, louder. "We keep going with the research. There's not much more we can do with sentience—not here, at least—but there are different subjects. When the divide between humans and Animals and animals happened, when Animals started losing rights, why people started supporting this oppression."

"Elphaba?"

She stood up and started pacing in front of him, passion pouring into her every word. "If the Wizard is intent on hurting the Animals, then our only chance is to prove him wrong, cut off his power. He has to have a weakness—something that will take away the people's confidence in him. So for now, we learn. We keep our heads down and gather as much information as possible. And when we have the answers, we spread them, like wildfire, until all of Oz knows the _Wonderful Wizard_ for what he truly is."

It was inspiring, truly, but Boq felt the dread trickling into his stomach. "And Morrible?"

Elphaba closed her eyes. "I knew what she was capable of. Dillamond warned me, months ago. And yet…I never imagined that…"

Boq always knew why Elphaba was so adamant about keeping this to herself. But that afternoon, watching her tremble in the middle of the cold, windy square, he finally understood. If he could take away all of this and bring her back to the smirking, witty young green girl he had met last summer, he would.

But he couldn't, so instead he stood and put a hand on her shoulder. "Whatever happens next, Elphie, we'll deal with it together. I haven't left you yet, and I'm not going to. It's like you said: we go on."

_They can silence our words,_ Elphaba thought. _But never our hearts._

_We go on._


	59. Chapter 59

Glinda picked silently at her sandwich, tearing off little pieces of crust, balling them up, then setting them back down in the paper wrapping. Across the table from her, Elphaba wasn't doing much better with her dinner. The blonde sighed.

"Say something. Please."

Elphaba's eyes stayed on her untouched food. "Like what?"

"I don't know. Just…talk."

"There's not much to say."

"Then come here." Glinda stood and held out her hands. Elphaba took them and allowed herself to be led across the room to her bed. Glinda sat down and pulled the green girl forward so their knees were brushing against each other. Elphaba gently tugged her hands loose and let them fall at her sides. She had yet to meet Glinda's eyes.

"Elphie," Glinda breathed. "I know, I _know_ this is hard. But please…you've barely said a word all day. You won't even look at me for more than a second. You're starting to scare me. Please, let me know you're still here?"

She closed her eyes and breathed in through her nose. "I'm here. I promise, I'm here. I'm just…scared."

"Morrible isn't here. She can't hurt you here."

Elphaba shook her head. "That's not what I'm afraid of."

Slowly, Glinda reached out and grabbed her hand. The green girl tensed and let out a shuttering breath. Glinda stroked her knuckles. "You don't have to be afraid of this."

_But I do,_ Elphaba thought, her eyes still closed. She had too much to lose already. She took a step back and tried to tug her hand away, but the blonde tightened her grip.

"Don't. Don't pull away from me," she pleaded. "I'm nervous too, okay? But don't let that fear get between us. I can see you putting your walls up, I can _see_ you shutting me out. But haven't we been through too much together? Please, Elphie. I don't want to lose you. Especially not because of this."

Elphaba's eyes opened and met Glinda's. She tore her hand free and brought it up to cup the blonde's face, and then she was kissing her.

Glinda shifted, pulling back just long enough to bring her legs up and kneel on the bed, evening out their heights. Elphaba's hand stayed on her cheek and Glinda covered it with her own. She licked her lips and opened her mouth to speak, but Elphaba leaned in and kissed her again. She stepped closer, bringing her other hand up to rest on the blonde's waist. Glinda let her own fingers find Elphaba's face, brushing back to tangle in her hair. Her lips moved tentatively against Elphaba's, afraid of going too fast and losing the contact. She had imagined this for far too long to let the moment shatter now.

Elphaba stopped but stayed close, resting her forehead against Glinda's. Her eyes fluttered and she was breathing heavily. "I-I can't…I don't want to…I'm so afraid of you getting hurt."

"Because of this?"

"This. Me. Any of it."

Glinda squeezed her fingers. "It'll hurt worse if you push me away."

Elphaba swallowed hard. "I don't think I could if I tried."

"Good." Glinda wrapped her hand around the back of Elphaba's neck and pulled her in once more.

 

***

 

With everything that had changed in the last couple of days—finishing the research, Dillamond's death, kissing Glinda—Elphaba was sure that her entire life would be different.

For once, she was proven wrong.

She still woke up early every morning. She still went to her classes, ate at the café with Glinda and the boys, and studied in the library. She still enjoyed walking around campus, usually with her nose in a book. She still despised Professor Nikidik and she still got into it every once in a while with Pfannee or Milla or Shenshen. Really, it was all entirely normal. If you just took a quick glance at her life, nothing had changed.

But there were small things, tiny little details, that made all the difference in the world.

Some things were bad: no more Birds following her around campus or late nights with Dillamond's journal. Professor Nikidik had started doing his best to antagonize her during class, trying to provoke or humiliate her in front of the other students. Morrible kept a close eye on her and Glinda, although thankfully she had yet to act suspicious of Boq or Fiyero.

But other things were so incredibly, impossibly _good_ that Elphaba wasn't sure how she had ended up so lucky. Their circle of friends was closer than ever. She and Glinda were nearly inseparable, almost always intertwining fingers or brushing hips or nudging shoulders. The boys caught on immediately, but while Boq and Fiyero simply accepted it, Crope and Tibbett spent an entire dinner trying to get the girls to admit they were officially a couple. Their antics went on and on until, finally, Glinda got fed up. She grabbed Elphaba's chin and leaned up to kiss her fully on the mouth.

Fiyero handed Boq money while Crope and Tibbett simply smiled and said, "Thank Oz. It's about time." But Glinda was focused only on the dazed, far-off look in Elphie's eyes.

It wasn't a rare thing. As confident as Elphaba was in every other part of life, she was often overwhelmed in this setting. Glinda often found herself having to take the lead, not that she really minded. It was amusing—and also pretty adorable—to see the green girl with her eyes closed, lips swollen, chest heaving breathlessly, and Glinda never failed to lean in for more.

The girls didn't jump into bed together right away. They didn't drag each other into empty classrooms or push each other up against closed doors—well, Glinda did once, just to hear Elphaba's heart skip a few beats as she pressed their bodies closer together. For the most part, their relationship stayed the same. They simply stopped fighting what impulse had been begging them to do for so long. When Glinda hugged Elphaba, she let herself stand on tiptoe to kiss the green girl's jaw. When Elphaba squeezed Glinda's hand, she let herself tug the blonde closer and wrap her in her arms.

They got lost in each other's eyes and memorized the sound of each other's voices. They accidentally fell asleep in each other's arms more than once, and eventually it just became habit to share Elphaba's bed. They studied in the companionable quiet of their room and made each other laugh when the day had been too stressful. Above all, they remained best friends.

They were innocent, pure. A sharp contradiction to the increasingly grim world around them.

Elphaba continued to work with Boq. There were a few other notes in Dillamond's journal, other theories and experiments he had thought of but never had the chance to start. They looked into other scholars and their opinions on Animal rights, and they tried—however desperately—to find someone who would support their theory of equal sentience enough to help conduct the experiments. They were met with little success, and instead found more problems every time they sat down together.

The Wizard had released a new set of Animal bans, and the effects were starting to show across Oz. Munchkinland was hit particularly hard. Both Boq and Elphaba heard about it in their latest letters from home. Boq's father told him about how they were forced to sell part of their farm to afford the newly increased taxes. Nessarose wrote to Elphaba about the Eminent Thropp leaving for negotiations in the Emerald City and being gone for nearly three weeks.

_He was livid when he returned home,_ Nessa said. _I've never seen him this way. He won't tell me much. All I know is that he's furious with the Wizard._

Boq started working more shifts at the boys' library and sent as much money as he could home to his family. He slept less, ate less, and hung out with the group less. It was this, along with many other growing concerns in their lives, that led to Fiyero pulling out his coin purse one day and grabbing Boq by the elbow.

"Come on," he announced to the group. "We're going to the Peach and Kidneys, and dinner's on me."

"But I have to—"

"No arguing, Boq. I already hired the carriage and everything."

Crope, Tibbett, and Glinda started begging. Elphaba nudged the Munchkin in the back and Fiyero practically dragged him out of Shiz. Together, they managed to get him into the carriage and started into town.

Elphaba avoided looking out the window, worried that she might catch a glimpse of some side street that would spark too many memories. Glinda caught on to her slight tension and snuggled just a little closer into her side. Boq loosened up after only a few minutes and, for a while, everything was okay.

 

***

 

Instead of being greeted by a flutter of wings and the cheerful click of a beak, they were ushered into the Peach and Kidneys by a middle-aged Munchkin woman.

"My name's Taeryn and I'll be serving you this evening," she said as she led them to a table. She took their drink orders and turned to leave, but not before Elphaba stopped her.

"Is Ayla here today?" she asked. Taeryn's eyebrows knit together, confused at first, then concerned.

"No," she said shortly. Elphaba grabbed her elbow before she could turn away again.

"Wait, please. I'm a friend, and I don't get to see her often."

Taeryn glanced around the mostly empty restaurant before leaning in closer. "She doesn't work here anymore. She was fired just last week, along with the Hare who worked in the kitchen."

" _Why?_ " Glinda asked, but the Munchkin woman just shook her head.

Something clicked in the back of Elphaba's mind. "The Hare in the kitchen…who took their place?"

"A young Munchkin lad. Sweet boy, but he's hopeless when it comes to cooking. They've all but sentenced him to dishwasher duty for life." Taeryn pressed her lips together. "I shouldn't be telling you all this. I'll…go get your drinks now."

"I don't understand," Glinda said as she walked off. "The Peach and Kidneys is a privately owned business. They can choose who they want to employ. So why get rid of Ayla?"

"Because they're afraid," Fiyero muttered. "The bans might not be able to reach them, but the Wizard can. Besides, public opinion of the Animals is lower than ever. They were probably losing business."

Elphaba barely heard their conversation. She'd focused her gaze across the table at Boq, kicking his shin to get his attention.

"Ow! What?"

"What have you heard from your family lately?"

"I don't know. The farm's still struggling. They lost two workers last week."

"Why?"

"Supposedly a bunch of Munchkins are getting offered jobs in the Emerald City and throughout Gillikin."

"Offered? What kind of jobs?"

"I have no idea. Why?"

Elphaba leaned in closer. The others had stopped talking to listen now. "Remember the Gorilla I told you about?"

"The one from the café?"

"You know who they replaced him with?"

"Yeah, a Munchkin…" Boq's eyes widened. "You don't think—?"

"First then, and now with Ayla and that Hare. If the Wizard is getting rid of the Animals, someone has to replace them as the lower, working class."

Boq's fist tightened on the edge of the table. "The taxes, the workers leaving, it all makes sense. No wonder the Eminent was pissed."

"Wait," Crope said. "What's going on? You think the Wizard is, what? Planning to attack the Munchkins next?"

"Why should he stop with the Animals?" Elphaba said. "Once they've been squashed out of society he'll need another target, and it's not like he's ever cared for Munchkinland."

"He's never cared for the Vinkus, either," Fiyero argued.

"Yes, but he's left you alone," Boq said. "For now."

Tibbett shook his head in disbelief and Boq started talking again, but Elphaba couldn't hear it. Blood was rushing in her ears and she felt her emotions stirring, boiling into magic that started to trickle down her spine.

"Elphie?" Glinda reached for her hand.

"I need some air."

"Elphie—"

But Elphaba was on her feet and out the door before anyone could react. She hurried out into the street, walking purposefully, though she had no idea where she was going. This was nowhere near where she had met Dr. Dillamond just a few short weeks ago, but somehow it still felt just as foreboding. She rounded a corner, worked up and fuming, and almost tripped over something small, brown, and fuzzy.

"Mama!" a little voice cried, trying to flutter away. Elphaba staggered back.

"I'm sorry," she said quickly. "I wasn't paying attention, I should've…" She trailed off as she looked at the creature she had almost stepped on. It was a little Owl hatchling, almost small enough to fit in Elphaba's palm. And swooping in behind her, looking ready to kill, was…

"Elphaba?" Ayla landed and brought a wing around the young Owl. "What are you _doing_ here?"

"They replaced you." It wasn't an answer, but Elphaba couldn't think straight. All she could see was the way Ayla's feathers stuck out of place and how her eyes had lost their mischievous, happy glint.

Ayla tilted her head. "You shouldn't be surprised by this."

"You shouldn't be so accepting!" Elphaba clenched her fists and sucked in a ragged breath, struggling to maintain control. This wasn't right. It wasn't _fair._

"There's nothing to do about it now," Ayla said. There was a touch of warning in her voice, but Elphaba ignored it. She was tired of being warned.

"There's _everything_ to do about it. We can protest, we can fight, we can—"

Ayla stepped back, ducking further into the shadows of the alleyway. Her wing tightened around her daughter. "Don't, Elphaba."

"But—"

"Stop. This isn't some prank you can pull on your classmates. This isn't tormenting your roommate for a while before calling a truce. You're in over your head, here."

"I'm not going to give up just because—"

Ayla snapped her beak. "Don't you get it, Elphaba? You're on the losing side. There's nothing we can do. War is coming, and if you're not careful you're going to get caught in the middle of it."

"What if I want to fight?" Elphaba demanded, crossing her arms over her chest. "This cause is worth fighting for."

But Ayla shook her head. "You're a fierce girl. I've always been able to tell that much. But this…this will destroy you. Don't ask to be put on a battlefield, Elphaba. You may just get your wish."

Elphaba stared at the Owl. Her head was bowed, her wings hunched over. Her daughter huddled in close, looking downright terrified of the world around her. Elphaba realized, with a cold, sinking feeling, that Ayla had already accepted defeat.

"Elphie?" Glinda's voice called, not too far away. Elphaba ignored it, but Ayla was already stepping away.

"Wait!" Elphaba stepped forward. "Don't—don't—"

The Owl shook her head. "Get out of here. Go to your Glinda. Keep your head down. There's nothing else you can do."

"But—"

"Goodbye, Elphaba."

With a rush of wings and feathers, she and her daughter took off, leaving Elphaba stranded in the alleyway, unable to offer an explanation when Glinda found her.


	60. Chapter 60

Spring made its way onto the Shiz campus, bringing with it new life, warmer weather, and—to both Glinda and Elphaba's disgust—lots and lots of rain.

Glinda bought an extra jar of the burn cream Elphaba used and kept it with her at all times, just in case. The green girl rolled her eyes and said she worried too much, but that changed when someone splashed through a puddle next to her on their way to class.

"What was that about worrying too much?" Glinda said as she sat Elphaba down in the classroom and helped peel off her completely soaked socks.

"Just shut up and give me the cream."

Glinda gave her a kiss first, but the green girl wasn't complaining.

Of course, the blonde faced her own troubles. If it was just rain, she was fine. But more often than not the rain was accompanied by thunder, lightning, and a memory that sent her shivering under the covers.

"I'm right here," Elphaba would whisper, pulling her closer and wrapping the blanket around both of them. "I won't let anything hurt you."

It was a stupid promise, but as long as she was talking about the storm, it was fine.

 

***

 

More than once, Elphaba was trapped in the library by the rain. At first, she didn't mind—there were far worse places to be stuck. She used the free time to skim through her and Boq's latest research.

One day she decided to go looking for a book she had checked out a couple weeks ago. It was one of the few texts the girls' library had on the brain, and there were a few passages she wanted to look up again. But when she got to the shelf where it was supposed to be, all she found was an empty space between two other books. It wasn't hard to figure out.

_Morrible._

The library felt less welcoming after that.

 

***

 

Elphaba started losing sleep.

Not that she got very much to begin with, but this was different. This wasn't waking early or staying up late because she had things to do. This was all on her mind, which refused to shut up long enough to shut down.

Every night her thoughts seemed to spiral out into the dark room, running through and repeating her worries and fears, as if she didn't dwell on them enough during the day. She thought of Ayla and the other Animals who had lost their jobs. She thought of the Munchkins who were being forced to replace them. She thought of Peric, fighting with the Resistance in the Emerald City. She thought of Nessa, plunging headfirst into a world of politics that was quickly revealing itself to be more shadowed and twisted than any of them could ever imagine. And always, she thought of Morrible. Morrible leering at her across campus. Morrible crooning at Glinda in sorcery class. Morrible standing in the doorway, knife glinting at her side. In real life, Elphaba had turned away and fled. In her haunting, late night thoughts, she couldn't.

There was nothing to do in those darkened hours except let her mind run its course. After a while the green girl would give up and just lay there, content to feel Glinda breathing deeply beside her until exhaustion weighed her down enough to grant release.

 

***

 

Both girls _knew_ it was a stupid idea, but neither of them had homework that night and, for once, it wasn't raining. Both circumstances were miraculous enough to justify a walk around campus after dinner.

Glinda's hand tightened around Elphaba's when they heard the first growl of thunder.

"It's still pretty distant," Elphaba assured her, though her face had started to tinge grey. "Let's just hurry back to—"

That's when it started pouring.

They were out by the lake, too far away to make it safely to the nearest building. Elphaba shouted a curse and threw her arm over her head while Glinda grabbed her and sprinted toward the nearest shelter—a little gazebo, one of several that dotted the lakeside. It was old and wooden and just big enough for both of them to huddle in the center and _almost_ be out of the rain. Glinda dragged Elphaba into it and immediately spun around to face her.

"Are you okay? Are you burnt? I have my cream, we can—"

"I'm fine." Elphaba was shivering and her eyes darted around like a panicked animal. "But we're going to be stuck here for a while."

Lightning flashed behind her, splitting the darkness. Glinda whimpered.

"Shh, my sweet." Elphaba sat on the wood and pulled the blonde down next to her. "It's okay."

It was the opposite of okay, and they both knew it. Five minutes ago it had been warm and sunny, yet now they were caught in the middle of a downpour, complete with crackling lightning and chilling thunder. _Almost like magic,_ Glinda wondered, but she refused to dwell on that.

Elphaba sucked in a breath, wincing as a gust of wind blew the rain toward them. Glinda huddled closer to her. "E-Elphaba?"

"It's alright," the green girl whispered shakily, pulling her cloak tighter. "It just stings a little."

Glinda shifted so that most of the rain hit her back. It sent a chill down her spine and, as the thunder growled even louder this time, she couldn't quite bite back her sob.

Elphaba took her hand, intertwining their fingers. "Talk to me."

"About what?"

"Anything. Distract me. Distract yourself."

Her eyes scanned the green girl's face. Elphaba was terrified and fighting hard not to show it. Glinda bit her lip.

"I hate storms."

"Me too."

The blonde squeezed her eyes shut. "But you hate them because rain hurts you. I hate them because…"

Elphaba ran her thumb over Glinda's knuckles. "You can tell me."

"You'll think it's stupid."

"You know that's not true."

Glinda took a shaky breath. "It was a long time ago. I don't know how old I was—three? four?—but somehow I remember it perfectly. I was out with my parents. We were in a carriage, driving home from some dinner party or something, but it was storming like crazy. We were fine until…until lightning struck a tree nearby. The horses panicked and bolted, and the carriage crashed and tipped off the side of the road. My parents were thrown out of the cab and landed safely, but I got stuck beneath it."

She stopped to take a deep breath, but it caught in her throat. Elphaba kept rubbing her knuckles, gazing steadily at her.

"I tried to climb out, but one of the horses was still attached to the reins. It was kicking and pulling, and eventually it broke free, but not before shifting the entire carriage and pinning me under it." Her heart pounded as the memories caught up with her. "It was pouring down rain, and I was completely soaked. All around me there was mud…I kept thinking the earth was going to swallow me… I couldn't move. I don't…don't really remember it hurting, but…I-I could hear my parents screaming for help. I c-couldn't see them, but, but, I could hear them. And I could s-see the lightning, right above my head. A-and the thunder…"

Elphaba's hand tightened around hers. "How long were you under there?"

Glinda shook her head. "I don't remember. It felt like hours." She sniffled and coughed, trying to fight down the scream that was building in her chest.

Elphaba reached around and pulled her into her lap. Glinda squirmed a little, trying to pull away. "Elphie, don't. I'm covered in water."

"So am I," the green girl said, wrapping her arms around the blonde.

"You'll burn."

"Hush. Let me protect you."

The sky roared and shook, and Glinda gave up, burying her face in Elphaba's shoulder. "I know it was years ago," she whispered. "But every time feels like that night. I can still feel the rain…the mud…"

Elphaba's grip tightened. "I've got you."

"I just want it to stop." Her voice broke and the tears finally started. Elphaba ran a hand through her hair, then tilted her face up so she could kiss them away.

"It'll stop," she whispered, cupping Glinda's cheek. "No storm lasts forever."

The blonde sniffed a little and rested her forehead against the crook of Elphaba's neck once more. "That was cheesy," she mumbled. Elphaba chuckled.

"Maybe," she said, combing through Glinda's hair. "But it's true."

 

***

 

Sometimes, when she was researching long after Boq had left for the night, Elphaba found her mind wandering.

It was all too easy for her thoughts to drift back to that night a few weeks ago, at that old, shabby inn with Dr. Dillamond. No amount of stressing and reliving could change things, but no amount of reasoning could stop her from returning to the event, either.

Once in a while, she wondered what would have happened if she'd refused to leave. It was pointless, of course. She already knew the answer: Morrible would have killed her just as easily, and that was the best case scenario. Other times, she thought about how different things would be if she and Dillamond could have escaped together. He would still be alive, still giving her advice, and they'd have a much better chance of getting the research out to the rest of Oz.

But most of the time, she sat there and let all of her guilt and regrets wash over her. She wasn't dumb enough to think this was entirely her fault, but she also knew that Morrible wouldn't have found Dillamond without her help. _What tipped her off?_ Elphaba asked herself one night. Obviously the headmistress had been on to her for ages, but what was the final clue?

The answer wasn't hard to figure out. It was the journal Fiyero stole. It had to be. Maybe Morrible never knew Fiyero was in her office—maybe she didn't even know what had been taken—but she knew something had happened.

Would Dillamond still be alive if she hadn't told Boq she wanted Morrible's research? She couldn't bring herself to dwell on it long enough to come up with an answer. The thought made her queasy, and it was around this time that she would bury her face in her hands and consider quitting for the night.

Of course, thinking of Dr. Dillamond usually led to other thoughts. Like Rakuul and Ayla and all the other Animals who were continuing to suffer. Despite all of her struggles, Elphaba knew she'd only ever experienced a taste of the cruelty Oz had to offer. What was it like to have your rights taken away? To be not only unable, but not legally _allowed_ to have a job, or a house, or any means of security? She thought of Peric, fighting in an invisible resistance group. She thought of Ayla, hiding in the darkened corners of society. Was that what it was coming down to for the Animals? A choice between fighting a war, or hiding from it?

How long would it be before she had to make that choice?

Elphaba refused to let herself despair. She could still see Ayla in that alleyway, tired and ragged, willingly accepting her defeat. Sometimes she wondered if Dillamond was actually the lucky one in all of this. He had died still believing in a better Oz for the Animals.

She didn't want to give up on his dream. Not yet. She continued to pour herself into research, working with Boq and, more and more often, Fiyero. The Vinkan turned out to be quite the little thief, slipping effortlessly in and out of the library or science labs or teachers' offices. Just like when Boq had first joined her, Elphaba tried and failed to push Fiyero away. But he refused to stop helping, and they all knew that, however worried the green girl was, she was also secretly grateful.

It became common for the three of them to spend long hours in the library, skimming through books and journals and old records of scholars who might be willing to take up their research. It was painful, desperate, often hopeless work—before, they had at least been making visible progress. Now it just seemed like they were digging themselves into a hole. Never once did the boys even think about complaining, but all three of them knew they were struggling.

Boq and Fiyero would almost always leave the library before it closed, but Elphaba had become a master at sneaking around campus after hours long before she had Dillamond's research. She would stay and finish whatever she had been working on, or—on nights like this one—she would simply sit and let her mind walk through all her restless thoughts.

But eventually even she would get tired, and she would slowly, silently, pack up her things and creep to the back window on the first floor that the librarians always forgot to lock. It led out to a cluster of bushes and a lamp post that was never lit, and it was all too easy for Elphaba to slip out and make her way, unseen, through campus. She had done it a thousand times before, and she could do it a thousand times again.

Or so she thought.

Elphaba froze as she approached the window, a chill running up her spine. Something was wrong. The bushes outside were far too still, and a dim light shone from the lamp post, barely visible through the window.

The green girl clutched the strap of her bag and backed away. No one knew about that window—not even the librarians who had worked here for decades. And yet…

She crept back through the library. There was another way out, through the dank halls of the cellar. Much like the boys' library, the bottom floor of this building was all but abandoned. It was as good an escape route as any, but Elphaba hated it because of the moisture that seeped from the ground into the walls and made the air sting. Still, it was better than getting caught by whoever was waiting outside her usual exit.

_Whoever._ Elphaba snorted. She knew perfectly well who was waiting by that window. In fact, her fears were confirmed as she climbed out of the in-ground cellar doors. She had just put the latch back in place when she heard the soft rustling of a dress. It was too close for her to make an escape, so she just pulled her hood up and retreated into a darkened corner of the building.

Elphaba held her breath as the headmistress came into view. For a moment, she was back in that inn, watching as the door opened, revealing a stiff dress, powdered skin and hair, the glint of a knife…

She bit her lip and shrank further into the shadows. Morrible slowed her path, glancing over at the doors Elphaba had just climbed through. The headmistress paused, then turned and took a few steps closer.

Elphaba could do nothing but stand there and hold her breath, her mind reeling. She thought of Glinda, tossing and turning in bed without the green girl there to hold her. She thought of Boq and Fiyero, who were smart enough not to push their luck with the headmistress. She thought of Dillamond, glaring at her as he told her to run. Now, it seemed, he had only put off the inevitable.

Morrible came to a halt, still staring at the entrance to the library. She was only a few feet away. Just one little turn of her head, and she would be looking right at the green girl.

Instead, she bent over and twisted the handle of one of the doors. Her hand pulled back before she even opened it and she wiped her fingers on her dress. "Too wet," the headmistress murmured. "She wouldn't dare."

Shaking her head, she turned around and continued her path around the library. For the first time in her life, Elphaba was grateful for the Madame Head's arrogance.

She didn't let herself breathe until she was back inside Crage Hall, all but sprinting up to her room. She slipped through the door and collapsed against it, her chest heaving. She couldn't believe her luck. She had fully expected to be lying motionless on the ground with a knife jutting out of her chest by now.

Of course, she didn't say any of this. Glinda was freaked out enough by the green girl rushing into the room at half past midnight and immediately falling to the floor. There was no need to tell her what had just happened.

It was a long time before Elphaba allowed herself to relax, even in the safety of their dorm room. She stayed shivering and tense next to Glinda for hours. The blonde had tried to get her to talk, but eventually gave up and settled for hugging her close and drifting off to sleep.

Elphaba closed her eyes and focused on the tiny arm wrapped around her waist, the blonde head resting on her chest. Tomorrow, she would tell Boq and Fiyero what had happened. If Morrible was taking to prowling the campus looking for her, then they were going to have to do things more carefully from now on.

In her last few moments before exhaustion finally overcame her, Elphaba made a silent vow never to get caught in the library again—though whether she was making it to herself, Dr. Dillamond, or her roommate snuggled up next to her, she didn't quite know.


	61. Chapter 61

"Hell and Oz, Elphaba. I swear, one of these days—"

"Yes, I'm an idiot. We've established that. Now would you please just drop it?"

She and Boq sat on a short stone wall outside the literature building, nibbling at their food and watching the other students wander through campus. Glinda was stuck in sorcery class—a thought that always made Elphaba nervous—but Boq had joined her for lunch instead.

The Munchkin shook his head. "She must be furious right now, knowing you slipped away again."

She smirked at the thought of Morrible pacing around the library hours after she had made it back to Crage Hall. But then she sighed, scowling down at her apple core. "My luck can't last."

"Elphaba, you're green and have a water allergy. _Your_ luck doesn't even exist."

She snorted and glanced up at the cloudy sky. "Point taken. You know what I meant."

"Yeah." He began ripping pieces off his bread and throwing them out into the grass. "It'd be nice if we knew what she was doing for once. Just to get a heads up."

"She's smarter than that," Elphaba muttered. "Her and the Wizard. We'll never know what they're planning until it's done."

"That's the spirit."

She tossed the remains of her apple away and slid off the wall. "I'm going to the library," she announced, bending over to grab her bag. "There's this historian I found last night that I want to look into more."

Boq jumped down beside her. "Are you sure that's a good idea?"

"It's the middle of the day. No one's going to cause any trouble."

"If you say so. I'm done with classes for the day, anyway."

When Elphaba had said no one was going to cause trouble, she hadn't quite expected to be confronted just outside the building. But Crope and Tibbett were waiting, jumping up to block the front doors as they approached.

"Sneaking off to the library again?" Crope asked, raising his eyebrows at each of them. "If I didn't know how smitten you were, Miss Elphaba, I'd say you were cheating on Glinda."

"Spouting your usual nonsense, I see," Elphaba responded, attempting to brush past them. But Tibbett put a hand on her shoulder and held her in place. She looked at each of them, noticing the uncharacteristic seriousness that had settled on their faces.

"Come on, boys," Boq said, forcing a chuckle. "We all know what a bad idea it is, trying to keep Elphie from her books."

"Must we always be the straightforward ones of the group?" Tibbett sighed. Crope crossed his arms over his chest.

"We know you're up to something, you two and Fiyero."

"Don't be—"

Crope held up his hand and scowled, cutting Elphaba off. "We know you're up to something, and we want in."

A drop of water landed near their feet, followed by another, then another. There was a gentle sigh as rain started falling, rustling through the trees nearby.

"Elphie…" Boq mumbled. The green girl pushed aside the boys and started once more for the library doors, but Tibbett grabbed her elbow.

"We're not letting you go until you tell us what you've been doing!"

"Shut up!" she hissed, grabbing his wrist and yanking him through the doors. Boq grabbed Crope by the arm and followed. Elphaba led the way, dragging Tibbett behind her, to one of her usual corners. She shoved Tibbett into a chair and crossed her arms over her chest. Boq nudged Crope into a second seat and hopped up to sit on the table. Behind them, water drummed on the window pane as the clouds released their full downpour.

"Are you _trying_ to let the whole school hear you?" Elphaba demanded in a whisper. The boys watched as she started to pace, taking a step or two before turning sharply.

"Are you burnt, Elphie?" Boq radiated calm, something he hoped he could pass on to the agitated green girl.

"I'm fine," she said shortly. "You're as bad as Glinda."

"Yeah, well, Glinda would have my head if she knew I let the rain hurt you."

"The _rain_ isn't my concern right now." She stopped short and glared at Crope and Tibbett. "I don't care what you two think you know. You're wrong. And if you go around talking about it, you're going to regret it."

"Are you threatening us, Miss Elphaba?" Tibbett placed a hand to his chest, feigning offense. Crope just rolled his eyes.

"You're a good liar, Elphie, but we know you're hiding something."

"Even if I was, you would have no part in it."

"You let Boq know."

"There's nothing to know!" she snapped. Her eyes squeezed shut and she pinched the bridge of her nose. "Look. If you know what's good for you, you'll drop this whole thing. Don't talk about it, don't think about it, and _never_ bring it up to anyone again."

"But—"

Elphaba didn't stay to hear their arguments. She spun on her heel and marched away, disappearing further into the library. Crope and Tibbett turned to Boq, who just shrugged, his ears turning red.

"Don't ask me. I'm not telling you anything."

"But Boq," Crope pouted.

"Nope," the Munchkin said, sliding off the table. "I do _not_ want to get on her bad side."

 

***

 

"Stupid, nosy, foolish little…"

Elphaba walked back and forth across the room, grumbling to herself. She had managed to avoid Crope and Tibbett the rest of the day, but she couldn't get their conversation out of her mind. She longed to get out of the room and walk around campus, but rain clouds darkened the sky, just daring her to try her luck and step outside.

"…don't know what they're getting into, any of them…If they would just _listen_ —"

"Elphie?"

The green girl jumped and spun around. Glinda hesitated in the doorway before stepping into the room. "Is everything alright?"

"Just fine," she muttered, turning her back on the blonde.

"Apparently not," Glinda said. She set her bag down on her bed and walked up to Elphaba. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing."

"You're lying."

Elphaba grit her teeth and moved away from Glinda. The blonde rubbed her forehead and walked around to face her again.

"You know, if you'd actually _tell_ me these things once in a while, I could help you."

"No, you couldn't," Elphaba said darkly.

"I _could_ , if you'd just—"

"It's none of your business!" the green girl hissed, turning her back once more. Glinda let out a noise of frustration and grabbed Elphaba's arm, spinning her around and stepping in closer so they were face to face.

Elphaba jerked from her grasp and stumbled backwards. She curled in on herself, wrapping her arms around her torso and tilting her head away. Glinda froze, watching as her roommate gasped for breath, her anger forgotten instantly.

"I'm sorry," she breathed, reaching for Elphaba's hand again. "I'm so sorry, Elphie, I didn't—"

The green girl pulled her fingers away and straightened up. Her eyes darted across the room, looking everywhere but at Glinda. "It's fine," she muttered.

"It's not," the blonde said softly. "You do that sometimes, and…"

"Do what?" Elphaba still wouldn't meet her gaze.

"You flinch, whenever I get too close to you too fast. You did it back when we hated each other, and you do it now. Why?"

"I don't know what you're talking about."

Glinda grabbed her hand once more and held it in place. "Is it because…" She swallowed and reached up to cup Elphaba's cheek. "Is it because someone hit you?"

Silently, Elphaba met her eyes. Glinda blinked back tears. "Elphaba…did your father hit you?"

Again, the green girl stayed silent. But the furrow in her brow and the set of her jaw said it all. Glinda closed her eyes as her anger returned, shifting into a trickle of magic that flowed heatedly through her veins. The hand against Elphaba's cheek dropped and curled into a fist as she started to tremble.

Elphaba looked around nervously as the furniture began to rattle. Her fingers tightened around Glinda's. "H-hey," she whispered. "Glinda, relax. Breathe."

The blonde clenched her teeth. "When did he—"

"Not for a long time," the green girl said quickly.

"Elphaba, I swear, if you're lying just to make me feel better…"

"I'm not." She brought Glinda's hand to her lips and kissed the palm. "Please, calm down."

Glinda sucked in a breath, shuddering, then let it out. The magic drained out of her as she did so, and she sagged a little against Elphaba. "I'm sorry," she whispered. The green girl wrapped her arms around her.

"For what?"

"For freaking out."

"You don't have to apologize for that."

"And for snapping at you earlier. I never want to make you flinch again."

Elphaba stepped back and frowned at the ground. "I'm not weak," she mumbled suddenly.

Glinda gave her a sad smile. "No." She stood on her toes and pressed her lips to Elphaba's jaw. "You are incredibly, impossibly strong."

 

***

 

Glinda pressed her knuckles into her eyes and rubbed, sighing heavily. She lowered her hands and folded her arms across the table, then rested her chin on them, gazing at the thick sorcery book in front of her. The pages were yellow and covered in dust. Her nose wrinkled at the sight, but she sat up again and pulled her stack of papers closer.

She was in the middle of an essay for Madame Morrible, analyzing the different schools of magic. She flipped to a different section of the textbook and started reading.

_Similar to its opposite, Restoration, Destruction magic requires immense focus and can easily drain a caster's energy to critically low levels._

Glinda started jotting down notes, stifling a yawn as she did so. _How does Elphie do this every night?_ she wondered, glancing up at the clock. She would have to head back to the room soon. Elphaba might have been an expert at sneaking out of the library long after it closed, but Glinda was not.

The blonde scribbled out a few more notes, checked the time again, then sighed and started gathering her stuff. She had tucked her paper into the book, marked her spot in her journal, and was on her feet sliding all of it into her bag when a voice spoke behind her.

"Running a bit late tonight, aren't we, Miss Glinda?"

Glinda jumped and nearly dropped her bag. "I-I was just about to leave, Madame."

Madame Morrible smiled and reached down toward the desk. She picked up the last of the papers and handed them to Glinda. The blonde noted how her eyes scanned the pages, and she tried not to let her hands shake as she took them and slipped them into her bag.

"T-thank you," she mumbled. "I…I'll just go, now."

"Of course, dearie. But a word of caution, Miss Glinda." Morrible's smile shifted into a leer. "You'll want to be careful of the time. There have been a few instances of students sneaking in and out of the library after hours, and I will not tolerate it any longer."

_Elphaba_ , Glinda thought. She nodded. "Of course, Madame. I will…remember that."

"Good night, Miss Glinda."

 

***

 

Glinda lay in bed that night, staring at her roommate. Elphaba was curled up on her bed, hunched over a book that Glinda knew better than to ask about.

She wanted to tell her about what Morrible had said. She wanted to know when Elphaba almost got caught sneaking out of the library. She wanted to yell at the green girl for being so careless, so dangerously determined to continue this research.

But more than that, she wanted to hold Elphaba, just to be sure that—for the moment—they were alive and safe and together.

She crawled out of her bed and slid into Elphaba's, gently pushing the book away and taking its place in the green girl's lap. Elphaba attempted a scowl, but it vanished as soon as she met the blonde's eyes.

"W-want something, my sweet?" She licked her lips and swallowed. Her hands shook ever so slightly, and she steadied them against Glinda's waist.

The blonde chose not to answer. Instead, she wrapped her arms around Elphaba's neck and pulled their lips together, instantly deepening the kiss so that Elphaba tightened her grip and let out a quiet moan.

Glinda fumbled blindly with Elphaba's braid, pulling out the tie and running her fingers through so it flowed down her back. One hand stayed tangled in her hair while the other moved down to her hips, drawing the green girl closer.

She pulled back just enough for her eyes to search Elphaba's. Her grip tightened, reassuring herself that this was all real.

"I love you," Glinda whispered. Elphaba's eyes widened, but one hand moved up to cup the blonde's face. "I never want to lose you."

"I'm right here," Elphaba breathed. Her fingers twitched against Glinda's cheek, and she pulled them together once more.

Glinda closed her eyes as Elphaba's hands started to roam. She shifted to sit more comfortably across the green girl's thighs and swiped her tongue along Elphaba's bottom lip.

Elphaba whispered something—maybe her name—but it was lost in the kiss. Glinda pressed her back, lowering them to the mattress.

Elphaba shifted her grip to Glinda's sides and pressed lightly, stopping her. She tilted her chin away and looked down. "I…"

Glinda stroked her cheek. "Elphie?"

"I-I…I can't. Not…"

The blonde pressed their foreheads together, brushing her nose against Elphaba's. "It's okay. We don't have to."

Elphaba swallowed. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be ridiculous," Glinda whispered. She crawled off Elphaba and into the space next to her, snuggling in close. Elphaba reached over and put out the lamp, then wrapped her arms around Glinda, resting her cheek against soft, golden hair.

"I love you," Elphaba breathed into the darkness. There was a tiny rustle, then Glinda scooted up so that her lips met the green girl's. It was soft, chaste, and lasted for only a moment before she settled back, perfectly content, into the crook of Elphaba's neck.


	62. Chapter 62

The sun started appearing more and more, and with it came somewhat warmer weather. Shiz's students leapt at the first signs of spring, immediately shedding their hats and scarves and gloves and pulling out their summer clothes. It was a little ridiculous, but after months of cold snow and rain, the risk seemed worth it.

Elphaba, taking advantage of the cloudless sky one day, slipped away from the main part of campus. She wandered, somewhat numbly, to the fields and trees that made up the far corners of Shiz. She didn't quite think of where she was going until she was there, kneeling down in front of a large tree, a smooth stone, and a jar of flames that had yet to go out.

She pulled the bag off her shoulder and hugged it, staring down at the makeshift memorial. For a long time she simply knelt there, silent. She wanted to say something, but no words came to mind. Instead she stared blankly at the stone until her vision started to blur.

The afternoon sun sank lower and lower until the campus was covered in shadows. Elphaba was just thinking that she would have to leave soon when she heard something rustling in the tree above her.

Elphaba jumped to her feet and tightened her grip on her bag, clutching it to her chest. She started to back away, her eyes straining to see in the dark, but she froze when she heard a voice.

"Wait."

Something moved in the lower branches, but all Elphaba could see was shadow. There was a soft clicking noise, then a glimpse of a bright, beady eye.

"Sorry, Fae. I didn't mean to scare you."

Elphaba's eyes widened, and she took a half step forward. "Peric?"

The shadow shifted, but all she could see was the gleaming eye. "I know it's been a while, but I came as soon as I could. We…heard about Dillamond." His beak clicked softly. "I'm sorry. He was a great scholar, and an even better Animal."

Elphaba nodded. "I can't see you. Come down."

"I can't," Peric said. "I can't stay long."

For the first time, Elphaba noticed that his voice was rougher. The glint in his eyes was a little brighter. She couldn't see, but she was sure that he would have a couple more scars than before. It had been only a few weeks since they last saw each other, but already she could tell how much he had changed.

_The Resistance,_ she thought, a shiver crawling up her spine.

"Dillamond told me where you went," she said softly. "Are you…I mean…"

"Don't ask me anything I can't answer," Peric warned.

"Are you okay?"

There was a long pause, then… "Yes. It's not much of a home, but I found a place where I belong."

Elphaba pressed her lips together. Peric shifted again, still hidden in darkness. "What about you? Are you…?"

She thought of Dillamond, of the research that they didn't know what to do with, of Boq and Fiyero helping her, of Crope and Tibbett getting too curious, of Glinda staying at her side, curling up with her at night… "It could be worse."

He blinked slowly and tilted his head. "And…the research?"

"Are you asking as a friend, or as a…as your job?"

"Will you still answer if I say both?"

Elphaba hesitated. Of course the Resistance would want to know what had happened to Dillamond's projects. She looked around and, seeing only an empty campus, stepped closer to the tree.

"What I was working on, when we first met…I finished it. But it's no use to anyone unless we find someone to support it—preferably someone who _isn't_ green or an Animal."

Peric blinked again. "They say…there was more. He had other projects…"

"I have a few of his ideas, but they're all brief—not anything close to what we were doing before. I'm working on them, but…"

He nodded. "They also say…and this time I'm only asking as a friend…that you were there, the night he…"

Elphaba closed her eyes and forced herself to breathe. "Yes."

His eyes darkened. "I'm sorry, Fae."

"Yeah."

He shifted again, shaking the branches. "I should go. But…just a word of advice: you don't have to do this alone."

Her head snapped up. "I won't let anyone else get hurt because of this."

Peric clicked his beak. "If there's one thing I've learned so far in the R…in the Emerald City, it's that working alone might be safer, but working together is always more successful."

Elphaba hugged the bag to her chest, feeling her chest tighten. Peric unfolded his wings.

"Be careful, Fae."

"You too," she whispered. She watched him leap from the branch and take off, still unable to see more than a shadowy figure. The Bird looped once over her head, then angled south and disappeared.

Just before she turned to leave, Elphaba looked over her shoulder at Dillamond's memorial. Glinda's fire gave off just enough light to gleam off the polished stone.

"I know you said I needed allies," she whispered out loud. "But…"

She bit her lip and turned away. She kept her head down all the way back to Crage Hall, desperately ignoring the fact that she could feel her resolve beginning to waver.

 

***

 

"Now class, who can tell me the greatest invention to come from Sir Lamren? Miss Pfannee?"

Pfannee sat up straight. "Sir Lamren created many useful things for hunting and trapping, but his greatest invention was the iron cage."

"An idea that's been around since before the Ozma Regime," Elphaba muttered under her breath. "But everyone thinks he's brilliant because he designed it specifically for animals." Glinda squeezed her knee under the table.

"Very good," Professor Nikidik went on. "Recently, many of Oz's engineers have worked to better the design of the cage. Who can tell me why?"

Again, Pfannee's hand shot into the air. "Two in one day," Tibbett muttered. "I'm impressed."

"Miss Pfannee?"

Pfannee smirked over at the green girl before answering. "So that the cages can hold Animals, instead of just animals."

"That's exactly right," Nikidik said. "In fact, the Wizard himself has recently funded a line of larger, stronger, more intricate cages that could hold up against even the most fearsome of Animals."

"Fearsome?" Elphaba scoffed. "What's so fearsome about someone trying to go about their everyday life in peace?"

"I do not appreciate outbursts in my class, Miss Elphaba," Nikidik said, glaring. "But since you're so curious about the matter… They don't have everyday lives. Not like we do."

"You're right," the green girl said. "Of course they don't. We've taken that away from them."

"It's for their own safety," said Pfannee.

"Oh, sure," Boq said, crossing his arms over his chest. "So, say someone takes away your job and your home and locks you in a cage. Would you call it _safety_ then?"

"That point is irrelevant," Nikidik interjected, "Because Miss Pfannee is a human being, not an Animal."

"There's no difference!" Elphaba jumped to her feet. "Humans and Animals are both equally intelligent life forms. There is nothing that marks one better than the other!" She glared around the room. "Or are you all so blinded by appearances that you can't see that?"

The class was silent. "You're one to talk about appearances, Miss Elphaba," said Nikidik, his eyes glinting. Before the green girl could say a word, he waved his hand and walked back to his desk. "Class is dismissed for the day. Remember to read chapter sixty-two in your books."

Seething, Elphaba grabbed her bag and started shoving books in it as the class began to disperse.

"Seems funny, doesn't it?" Pfannee asked as she passed by their table. "The green bean and the midget are the only ones who care about those dumb Animals."

Boq lunged forward, but Fiyero and Crope each grabbed an arm and held him back. Glinda found Elphaba's hand and squeezed it. Pfannee glanced at their intertwined fingers and made a noise of disgust before walking away.

Elphaba tugged her hand away from Glinda's and stormed out of the room.

"Elphie, wait!" The blonde chased her out of the building, but Elphaba kept going.

"Leave me alone, Glinda."

"But—"

The green girl slipped into the crowd of people pouring onto the sidewalks. Boq came up just as Glinda lost sight of her.

"I'll try to talk to her," he said. "If…if you don't mind."

Glinda just sighed. "Go. You understand all of this more than I do."

He squeezed her shoulder, then disappeared into the crowd. The others appeared beside Glinda and watched him go. Fiyero put an arm around the blonde while Crope and Tibbett simply sat down.

"Don't worry, Miss Glinda," Crope said. "She'll come back soon."

Tibbett nodded sagely. "She always comes back for you."

 

***

 

Elphaba sat at the edge of the dock, one arm wrapped around the wooden pole, leaning out just far enough to see the water below her.

"Of all the places you would run off to," a voice said behind her, "This was the last one I expected."

"Maybe that's the point," she muttered, but she scooted over to make room. Boq moved to sit cross-legged beside her. He leaned back on his hands and gazed out over the lake.

"I'd say Nikidik and Pfannee are wrong, and they're just a couple of brainless fools…but I know that doesn't really help."

"They _are_ brainless fools," the green girl said, "But most of Oz agrees with them."

Boq was silent for a while. He didn't look at her when he finally said, "We could change that, you know."

"You really think so?" Her voice was soft.

"I think…if there was ever a chance…it's this. It's you."

She shivered.

"Come on," Boq said, climbing to his feet. "We can't get anything done out here."

"The library doesn't always feel safe anymore," she mumbled, but she stood and followed him off the dock and back into campus.

"There's nothing she can do during the day," the Munchkin said. By some unspoken agreement, they turned down a less-traveled sidewalk and headed for the library.

"Maybe she's not the only thing we should worry about," Elphaba said, slowing down as they approached the front steps. The other three boys were lounging around, apparently waiting for them. _At least Glinda's not with them,_ she thought as she resigned herself to what was coming.

"Miss Elphaba," Crope said, pushing himself off the wall. "We were wondering if you had a bit of time to spare."

"I don't," she said shortly. Boq hovered uncertainly by her side.

"Oh, but we'd love it if you could accompany us on a walk through campus," Tibbett said.

"I know what you're going to ask," she said. "And the answer is no. Shove off."

"Just hear them out, Elphie," said Fiyero.

"Stay out of it," she snapped. "You've already forced your way into this. What more do you want?"

"You could actually tell me something for once, instead of just sending me off to swipe books and lab materials for you."

Before she could respond, Crope wrapped an arm around her shoulders and steered her away from the library. The group wandered through campus until they were where no one could hear them. Elphaba twisted away and Crope let her go, crossing his arms over his chest.

"We're not pressing this matter because we want to hurt you, Elphie," said Tibbett.

"And I'm saying no because I don't want _you_ to get hurt," she spat back.

"She's not kidding," Boq said. "This isn't just Elphaba being dramatic. It's truly dangerous."

"We know," Crope said, "And we want in."

" _No_."

Crope rubbed his forehead. "Look, we get it. You want to protect us. Thanks. But we're going to help whether you let us or not, so you might as well just tell us what's going on."

Fiyero frowned and crossed his arms over his chest. "They have a point, Elphaba."

She glared at the ground, thoughts racing. Dillamond said she needed allies. Peric said she shouldn't do this alone. But Dillamond was dead and Peric was in the middle of an underground war.

"No one was supposed to know," she muttered through clenched teeth. "This was my problem. No one else's."

"You chose to help Dr. Dillamond," Boq said gently. "I chose to help you. So did Fiyero. If Crope and Tibbett are choosing this, can you really refuse them?"

She kept up her scowl, but said nothing.

"Besides," Crope said suddenly. "The more people you have on your side, the more people you have trying to keep the secret from Glinda."

The boys all turned toward her. If there was any way to convince her, it was this.

"How do I know you won't let her find out?" Elphaba asked. "If all of you managed to force your way into this, who's to say she won't do the same thing?"

"Because we want to protect her, too," Fiyero said.

"And because we're terrified of what you'd do if she found out," Tibbett added. The others nodded.

Her brow furrowed. "No matter what happens, this stays between us. Glinda doesn't find out. Morrible doesn't find out. No one finds out."

"Of course," Crope said.

"We wouldn't dream of telling," Tibbett agreed.

Elphaba glanced over at Boq, who gave her a slight, encouraging nod.

"Fine," she said.

And then she began to tell them everything.


	63. Chapter 63

The boys seemed eager to meet Elphaba's approval.

Crope and Tibbett were—unbelievably—masters at the art of keeping secrets. They were also up to date on all of Shiz's gossip—even more so than Pfannee and her followers—and proved to be an invaluable source of information about all of Shiz's students, staff, and teachers.

"Did you hear?" They would ask as they slipped into chairs across the tables. "Morrible called Nikidik to her office last night. Supposedly they were talking for hours."

And, "The librarians have been given a new, stricter set of rules. They're cracking down hard on people who stay past closing."

And, "An older student apparently wrote his final paper on Animal rights. He got a failing grade, and now he has to spend the summer here in order to graduate."

Fiyero, for his part, grew bolder, cleverer, every time he went to swipe something for the group. And Boq worked harder than ever, discovering more research and information every time he stepped into an academic building.

She had told them almost everything. They knew about Dillamond's research, the theories they had come up with, the letters back and forth, the Goat's idea to get the work to someone who could help them test it. They knew about Morrible's ever-growing presence, about the Wizard's involvement, and even about Dillamond's suspicion that the Wizard was doing all of this to hide the fact that he had no real power. The only thing she kept to herself was Peric and the Resistance. Something told her no one could know about that, and honestly, she was happy to file the information away and pretend it didn't exist.

The boys knew almost everything, but Glinda knew almost nothing. It infuriated her to no end, especially now that she was starting to suspect she was the only one left in the dark.

"Does Fiyero know?" she asked one day, watching the green girl at her desk.

"I'm not answering that."

"Obviously Boq knows. But does Fiyero? Do Crope and Tibbett?"

"Still not answering."

"Do you not trust me?"

"You know that's not the reason."

"You don't think I can handle it?"

Elphaba sighed. "Glinda, please. You're just going to have to—"

"Trust you," the blonde finished for her. She exhaled and went back to her own work. "I know."

And for the most part, she did. But every so often she would see Boq passing a note to Elphaba. She would watch as Fiyero slipped something out of his bag and handed it to one of the others. She would catch Crope and Tibbett deep in conversation, only to break off when she came into view.

"Just a bit of gossip," Crope would say when she asked. Then Tibbett would lean in, eyes glinting mischievously.

"Did you hear, that red-head from Settica is dating a member of the Gale Force? Apparently they've been writing letters back and forth…"

They were excellent at distracting her whenever she grew too suspicious, and their gossip always turned out to be true, making Glinda wonder, once or twice, if it was all just in her head.

But then she would see Morrible leering at Elphaba. Or she would find the boys sitting in a corner of the café with their heads together. Or she would pretend to be asleep as the green girl slipped out of the room late at night, and she would be certain that whatever was going on, everyone was set on keeping her out of it.

The last instance hurt the most. She forced herself to lie still as Elphaba gently pulled away and crawled out of bed. It took all her self-restraint not to tighten her grip when Elphaba untangled their fingers. Glinda would pray with all her might that she was just going to the bathroom, or even taking a restless, midnight walk around the dorm. But she wasn't naïve enough to ever actually believe that.

One night, she'd had enough. As soon as Elphaba closed the door behind her, Glinda sat up and lit the lamp between their beds. She pulled Elphaba's blanket around her shoulders and hugged her knees to her chest, intent on waiting up all night if she had to.

As it turned out, she didn't have to. It was only an hour or so later when the door to their room opened again, and the green girl slid quietly inside.

She froze when she saw the lamp on. The bag slid from her shoulder and landed on the floor with a quiet thud. Glinda rested her chin on her knees and looked at her roommate.

"You're not going to tell me, are you?"

Elphaba kicked her bag over to her desk and began slipping off her boots. "Tell you what?"

"Elphaba."

"No, I'm not going to tell you."

"Of course not," the blonde said. "Why should you? You're only sneaking off in the middle of the night."

She sighed. "I can't tell you. You know that. I've asked you to trust me, and—"

"I _do_ trust you, Elphie," Glinda said, her voice rising. "When are you going to trust me?"

"It's not that I don't trust you," Elphaba insisted.

"Really? Because that's what it seems like." Glinda curled up tighter, scowling at the green girl. "Everyone else is in on it. You're up to something—sneaking around, stealing things, doing all this research—yet I'm the only one who doesn't know what's going on. Does that sound like trust to you?"

The green girl winced, but her hands curled into fists. "You can make me feel guilty all you want, Glinda, but I'm not going to tell you."

"Why not?" she demanded. "You think I can't handle it? I'm not strong enough? Smart enough? Brave enough? Everyone else can do this, but not me?"

"You're being ridiculous."

"Then what is it? Why are you hiding this from me?"

"To protect you!" Elphaba cried. "You _know_ how dangerous this is! I just don't want you to get hurt!"

Glinda jumped to her feet. "I'm not made of glass, Elphaba. I'm not some fragile little doll you have to tiptoe around. I can handle myself. I'm not weak."

"I never said—"

"And if you're so busy protecting me, who's going to be there to protect you? If this is _so_ dangerous, who's going to save _your_ sorry hide when you get into trouble?"

"I don't need—"

"You don't?" Glinda questioned, stepping closer. "Morrible killed Dillamond, and now she's on to you. She almost caught you sneaking out of the library, for Oz's sake! I don't even want to think about what she would have done if she'd actually found you!"

The color drained from Elphaba's face. "I…I didn't think you…how did you know that?"

The blonde glared. " _Morrible_ told me. She said some students had been sneaking around. _Oz,_ Elphaba. If you're going to be this stupid, the least you can do is _tell_ me when something happens."

"And what would you have done?" Elphaba challenged. "Nothing. She's too powerful, too clever. There is _nothing_ you could do!"

"If you would actually let me know what's going on, then I could do something!"

"No!" the green girl snarled.

"Dammit, Elphie!" Glinda cried. "Why? _Why_ do you have to be such a stubborn—"

Elphaba grabbed her, yanking her around and shoving her against the wall. Glinda's protest was smothered by the kiss that followed. Her knees shook and almost gave out, but Elphaba wrapped an arm around her waist and held her up. Her other hand went up to tangle in the blonde's hair, tilting her head back and deepening the kiss until they were both gasping for breath.

When the green girl pulled back, Glinda let out a whimper and pressed her forehead into Elphaba's neck. Her arms found their way around Elphaba's waist and held her tight.

"It's because I love you," Elphaba whispered. All the anger had left her voice, replaced by a vulnerability Glinda had only heard once or twice before. "I love you, so damn much, and if you were ever hurt…because of this…"

"Everyone else knows," Glinda breathed, blinking back tears.

"I wanted to protect them, too, but they wouldn't let me." She swallowed. "If you truly wanted to know…if you went through my stuff or listened in on our conversations…I don't think I could stop you from figuring it out. But the thought of you being involved in this…"

"I just want to help you."

"I know, my sweet. And I hate keeping things from you. But I don't know what I'd do if…if…"

Glinda tilted her head up and met her eyes. "It's okay, Elphie. It'll be okay."

Elphaba shook her head. It wasn't okay. None of this was okay. But whatever protest she had faded away when Glinda stood on her toes and pressed a kiss to the corner of her mouth.

"At least…at least tell me when you're going to leave, instead of sneaking away all the time."

The green girl nodded. "I will."

"Promise me."

"I promise."

Glinda reached up and tilted her head closer so that their breath mingled and their lips brushed over each other when she whispered, "Come back to bed?"

Elphaba licked her lips and nodded, tangling their hands together. When they had crawled back to bed and curled up together under the covers, she kissed Glinda again, lingering for a moment before settling back against the pillow. One hand cradled the blonde's head against her chest while the other moved to trace aimlessly across her back.

"I know it's hard," Elphaba whispered. "But…please. Don't go looking for trouble with this."

"I won't," Glinda answered softly.

"Promise me."

"I promise."

 

***

 

When Elphaba started on Dillamond's research, she had known a dead end was coming. She knew that, eventually, her resources would run out. She would be unable to continue without help from Dillamond himself. And she was right.

She felt the same way now.

No matter what information Crope and Tibbett gathered, no matter what materials Fiyero managed to get his hands on, no matter what research Boq and Elphaba accomplished, she knew it wasn't enough. It wasn't even close.

Dillamond had told her to continue her studies. Peric had told her to work with other people. Neither one seemed to be working, and she couldn't help but wonder what new twists would be brought up in the next week, the next month, the next year.

At first, it was easy to forget. Like today, when Crope and Tibbett were skipping through the grass, leading the way to their usual spot near the edge of campus. Fiyero and Boq were next in line, comparing scores on a recent math test. And a few feet behind them all, Glinda was playing with Elphaba's hand, curling and uncurling their fingers and swinging their arms up high between them.

It was a perfect retreat. There was no failing research, no creepy headmistress, no obnoxious professors or classmates. Out here, with nothing but the sunlight and breeze and a thick blanket to stretch out on, there wasn't even the looming threat of a power-hungry Wizard.

"I dare someone to jump in the lake," Tibbett said that afternoon.

"You're crazy," Boq replied lazily. "It's still way too cold."

"But by all means, Master Tibbett," Elphaba said, "Be our guest."

Tibbett made a face, but Crope just wrapped an arm around his shoulders. "This summer, my friend, we can jump in the lake every day."

"Are you boys staying here?" Fiyero asked.

"Sure are," Crope said. "There's much more adventure to be had here, I think." He glanced sideways at Elphaba, but then turned to Boq. "And what of you, dear old Boq?"

"Definitely staying," the Munchkin said. "Most of the library workers are leaving, which means more shifts for me…and more money to send back home."

"I think I will, too," Glinda said, rolling an apple between her hands. "A month alone in Frottica was bad enough. I'm not sure I could stand an entire summer."

"Well then," said Fiyero, shifting a little. The movement caused his tattoos to gleam in the sunlight. "I'm starting to feel left out."

"Stay then," Boq said. "Surely we're more exciting than weeks spent in a caravan to the Vinkus."

"Besides," said Tibbett, "Our escapades aren't nearly as fun without you there."

"I'm still considering it," Fiyero said. "But yes. Staying here would be far more interesting."

Again, they all looked at Elphaba. Glinda scowled slightly and busied herself with her apple. The green girl resisted the urge to squirm. She knew what they were thinking. What could they do this summer, with the campus all to themselves? When Shiz's curfew was lifted for the few students that stayed, and they could spend all night in the libraries or the labs without being disturbed? What could they accomplish when the town was far less busy, and all the energy put into their classes could be spent on Dillamond's projects?

For a moment, all she could see was the daring invincibility in their eyes, the promise of an adventure where they simply could not fail.

But it was too good to be true. An empty campus meant Morrible would be able to focus on them. No curfew meant a false sense of security. A quiet town meant it would be much easier to follow the group and listen in on their conversations.

"What about you, Elphaba?" Boq asked, drawing her out of her thoughts. "Can you stay at Shiz, or will you head back to the Colwen Grounds?"

"I'm not sure," she said, waving a hand dismissively. "I want to stay, obviously. But if Nessarose needs me then I'll be heading home."

It seemed like a logical enough answer, and as far as she knew it was true. Yet, somehow, Elphaba couldn't shake the feeling that she'd just lied to her friends.

 

***

 

As time went on, Elphaba began to feel more and more restless. If she wasn't worrying about the research, she was worrying about Glinda.

Talking about their summer plans had bothered Elphaba. What if she couldn't stay at Shiz? Would she and Glinda be forced to spend an entire season apart? She told herself not to dwell on it, but there were some moments when she just couldn't shake the feeling that their time was running out.

But that was just some moments, and despite it all, she and Glinda grew closer every day.

Of course, it wasn't all easy. While their circle of friends had been rooting for their relationship for months, few others on campus were as delighted. It had been a while since Glinda let Shiz's current gossip get to her, but it still hurt when she heard the whispers about her and Elphaba.

"Do they have to be so vulgar?" she asked one day as Elphaba led her away from the laughing crowd.

"That's just Avaric and his boys," the green girl said firmly. "And he's simply jealous, because no girl would even look at him."

Some instances were worse than others, but for the most part, if Glinda could curl up in Elphaba's arms at the end of the day, she was just fine.

And then came one night, at the end of a long, tiring week, where Elphaba dragged Glinda out of their room as soon as the sun set.

"Where are we going?" the blonde asked. She tried to tug her hand free, but Elphaba held on tight, pulling her along through the dark campus.

"It's a surprise. Come on."

She led them to one of the academic buildings—Glinda was too focused on trying to keep up to remember which one—and unlocked the door with a quick spell. As soon as they were inside, she closed the door behind them and disappeared into the hall.

Glinda stumbled after her, starting to panic at the thought of being left alone in the darkness. "Elphie! Wait up!"

A hand came up to cover Glinda's mouth. "Hush, my sweet. We don't want to get caught."

Glinda stared up at her, eyes wide, and Elphaba replaced her hand with her lips, kissing the blonde softly for just a moment. There was a pout as she pulled away, but the green girl simply intertwined their fingers and pulled her along, far more gently than before.

Down hallways, around corners, up staircases they went. Glinda had no idea where in the building they were, and she was sure no one else would, either. She also knew that was the point.

Finally, Elphaba ducked into a classroom and shut the door behind them. "Follow me," she whispered, moving over to one of the windows. Glinda obeyed, watching as her roommate pushed the glass pane up with one swift motion. She moved to sit in the sill with her legs dangling outside and looked back. With a slight smile, she reached her hand out, beckoning.

Glinda hesitated. "What if we get caught?"

"We won't."

"How do you know?"

Instead of responding, Elphaba grabbed her hand and pulled her forward. Glinda let out a little yelp, but then smiled and started climbing out the window. "Go ahead and drop down," the green girl whispered in her ear. "It's only a couple feet."

Glinda bit her lip. It was too dark to see the roof below her, and she was suddenly terrified of falling. But at the same time, she trusted Elphaba. More than anything. She closed her eyes and let herself drop.

Her feet hit the roof easily, but she still didn't open her eyes. There was a gentle thud of Elphaba following her through the window. Strong green arms wrapped around her before she had the chance to feel the cold night air, and she felt herself being led forward, away from the window.

"Elphie…" The roof was uneven beneath her feet, and the lack of solidity terrified her. Her hand shot up to grab one of Elphaba's. The green girl squeezed her fingers, giving her something steady to hold onto.

"Open your eyes," she whispered in her ear.

Glinda shook her head, shrinking back into her roommate's embrace. "I-I can't. I hate heights, Elphaba. Please, I just—"

Fingers trailed up and down her arms, leaving goosebumps in their wake. "I've got you, Glinda. Just look."

The blonde inhaled, trying to stop herself from trembling. Finally, and only because Elphaba's arms were the safest place in Oz, she opened her eyes.

Her fears melted.

Spread out before her was all of Shiz, from the illuminated brick and marble of the campus buildings, to the glowing orange lamp posts of downtown. The lights twinkled in the velvety night, a landscape of stars at her feet.

"I…never knew Shiz could look so beautiful," she whispered, staring in wonder. "It's like our own little skyline."

"Just for us," the green girl agreed, nuzzling into her neck.

"It's gorgeous." But then Glinda turned to look at her, and suddenly the city lights were the last thing on her mind. " _You're_ gorgeous."

Before Elphaba could do anything more than blush deeply, Glinda twisted around and captured the dark green lips with her own. She felt the other girl smile into the kiss as she tangled her hands in silky black hair. "Elphaba," she breathed.

In response, the green girl pulled her closer, wrapping one hand around her waist and settling the other behind her neck. Their bodies were flush against each other, but Glinda didn't want to stop there. She stepped forward, pushing Elphaba back against the brick wall next to the window, and pressed up against her.

Elphaba let out a soft, breathy moan, and Glinda took advantage of the distraction by deepening the kiss, exploring Elphaba's mouth with her tongue and nipping at her lips.

The green girl was losing her mind. Even though her eyes were closed, she could still see Glinda: the lights reflected in dazzling sky-colored eyes, her hair framed with silvery moonlight, her skin pale and soft, nearly glowing in the darkness. The blonde's hands were wrapped in her hair, twisting the silky locks and scratching the base of her skull. Every breath Glinda took pushed against her own chest, almost matching the pounding of her heart. Their hips were pressed together, creating friction every time one of them moved. It was quickly becoming too much for Elphaba.

Her knees shook and she started sliding down the wall, bringing Glinda down with her. The blonde eased her into a sitting position and immediately went to straddle her. Slender green fingers gripped her waist and pulled it down, and this time both girls let out a moan at the contact.

Elphaba pulled away from the kiss, leaving Glinda for only a split second before moving to her neck. Glinda whimpered as sharp teeth grazed her skin gently before finding the pulse point just below her jaw. Elphaba's breath sent shivers down her spine and the green girl pulled her, if possible, even closer.

Glinda untangled her fingers from Elphaba's hair and brought them down to trace the defined collarbone. Feeling suddenly brave, she lowered one hand even more, until it was resting against Elphaba's heart.

The green girl tensed, but only for a second. She cupped Glinda's cheek and pressed their lips together once again. Grinning, the blonde moved to cup one breast, then the other. Her thumbs stroked simultaneously, tracing circles through the fabric of the navy frock until she felt the nipples harden.

Elphaba let out a strangled gasp, arching her back. The reaction exhilarated Glinda, and she had the sudden urge to see her roommate come undone. She moved away from Elphaba's mouth and kissed her jaw instead, working her way up slowly, enjoying the feeling of each shiver that darted through the green girl, until she was sucking gently just behind the earlobe.

"If you want to stop, tell me," she whispered, her voice surprisingly low, "Or else I never will."

Elphaba's entire body quivered against her, but she nodded slightly. That was all the blonde needed.

Her thighs tightened around Elphaba's and she thrust her hips against the taller girl. One hand stayed on her breast while the other moved down to stroke her side. She let her fingers caress every inch of Elphaba she could reach, drifting softly over the slender frame.

The next moan that came out of Elphaba was much louder, and she tilted her head back, baring her neck. Delighted, Glinda dipped down to her collarbone, alternating between kissing and sucking and grazing with her teeth.

"I love you," she breathed against the emerald skin, inaudible even to herself. Somehow, though, they both got the message.

Glinda moved lower and paused at the top of Elphaba's chest, just above her dress. She pulled back a little to meet the green girl's gaze. Her eyes were brighter than usual, pupils blown, irises smoldering with gold and brown and even some flecks of deep green.

Both girls had stilled. Slowly, without breaking eye contact, Glinda let her hand drift up to loop a finger around one strap of the dress. She waited there for a moment, and her free hand started to trace slow, soothing circles up and down the green girl's side.

Elphaba fidgeted, almost imperceptibly, but that was enough for Glinda. She let go of the dress and moved to cup her face instead. The green girl looked away, but Glinda pulled their mouths together once more.

"Don't you dare," the blonde whispered between kisses. After a moment she broke off and rested their foreheads against each other.

"I love you," Elphaba whispered. "So much."

Glinda smiled, nearly humming. She shifted and started climbing off of her roommate, but Elphaba stopped her, turning her around to nestle between the green girl's legs. Glinda snuggled into the position, enjoying the warmth radiating off of both of them.

Elphaba placed her chin on Glinda's shoulder, brushing her cheek against the blonde's. "I don't deserve you," she said softly. "And I don't say that to be self-deprecating. I say it because there is no one in all of Oz who deserves you."

Glinda turned her head and kissed her verdant cheek. _You do,_ she was saying, and they both knew it. Elphaba smiled a little, almost shyly. She breathed in deep, inhaling the smell of flowers and fresh oils, their scents mixed together, intermingling in the cool night.

Together, the girls stared out across the skyline, their own little view of Shiz. And for a moment, it felt like they ruled the world.


	64. Chapter 64

Elphaba kissed Glinda's cheek and shouldered her bag. The blonde pouted and wrapped her arms around Elphaba's neck, pulling her close and refusing to let go.

"You're going to make me late," Elphaba chuckled. She reached up to unhook Glinda's arms, but the blonde simply held her tighter and stood on her toes so their lips were nearly touching.

"You can be a little late," she whispered. "I'm sure the boys won't mind."

The green girl's cheeks darkened, but she just shook her head and attempted a step back. "Glinda, I really need to go."

Glinda let one hand wander down Elphaba's side, landing on her hip and tugging her closer. "Are you sure?"

Elphaba's eyes lost their focus and her lips parted. Glinda seized the opportunity by pressing a kiss to the corner of her mouth, up her jaw to her ear, then back down again. The green girl gave in with a groan, tangling one hand in Glinda's hair and kissing her fully.

As much as she hated it, Glinda let Elphaba go and took a step back. "Go on," she said. "Crope and Tibbett will never let you hear the end of it if I make you late."

Elphaba scowled. "You did that on purpose."

But the blonde simply smiled, the picture of innocence. "I don't know what you're talking about. Hurry back, okay?" She pressed one last kiss to Elphaba's cheek and backed away. The green girl rolled her eyes, but she was still blushing as she left the room and made her way out of Crage Hall.

It wasn't too late. The sky was just getting dark when she reached the library. Boq was already at their usual table in the corner, flipping through his history textbook.

"Do you ever think about how all this started?" he asked as she sat down next to him.

She raised an eyebrow and glanced down at the page he was reading, but he flipped it before she got the chance to see anything. "What do you mean?"

"All this inequality," Boq said. He tilted the book and ran his finger over a line. _Most historians mark the Great Drought as the beginning of the divide between humans and Animals._ "Hundreds, maybe thousands of years ago, some angry human decided to blame a completely natural occurrence on Animals. He probably just had some bitter grudge against his Animal neighbor or something. Yet, now, his resentment is completely ingrained into society."

Elphaba shook her head. "Ozian history at its finest. Stupidity, prejudice, and inequality, rolled into one lovely little land for all of us to enjoy."

The Munchkin glanced up at her. "Sounds like you're a little bitter yourself."

"I am very quickly losing my tolerance for the world and all its flaws."

"That's understandable," Boq said, his voice gentle. "We all have our negative days."

But Elphaba wasn't sure it was just a negative day. She was beginning to feel like this more and more, and although she had a lot to be stressed about, she couldn't quite understand why everything was starting to seem so hopeless.

She cleared her throat and looked away. "Where are the others? Shouldn't they be here by now?"

"I haven't seen them," said Boq. He turned to look out the window. "We said to meet before dark, right? They've got a little time still. They're probably just running a bit late."

But the sun was quickly disappearing over the horizon, leaving a dark campus and no sign of Crope, Tibbett, or Fiyero. Neither one of them said it, but they were both starting to get anxious. Boq continued to flip halfheartedly through his book before shutting it and laying his head down on the table. Elphaba fidgeted in her chair and did her best not to look out the window every ten seconds.

Finally, Boq lifted his head and spoke in a whisper. "Do you think they…?"

"Don't," Elphaba said firmly.

"But if Morrible—"

"They weren't supposed to be anywhere near her. They were just supposed to meet us after dinner."

"Okay, but how often do Crope and Tibbett do what they're supposed to?"

She turned to glare at him, but she was interrupted by two boys running up to them, faces flushed and chests heaving.

"You'll never believe what just happened," said Tibbett, practically leaping into one of the chairs. Crope nodded.

"You're gonna love this, Elphie."

"Where in Oz were you?" Boq demanded. "Why do you look like you were just running for your lives? And where's Fiyero?"

Before he could even finish, the Vinkan came around the corner. His dark skin had paled considerably but he looked furious. He reached out and smacked Tibbett on the head as he passed him, then collapsed into a chair.

"We look like we were running for our lives because we _were_. Thanks to these two idiots."

"Hey," Crope argued, "We learned some valuable information."

Fiyero snorted. "Hardly. We'd already guessed most of it."

"Yes, but now we know for sure," said Tibbett, rubbing the back of his head.

"What happened?" Elphaba asked. Crope grinned and leaned in. The others all huddled closer around the table, listening intently.

"Tibbett left a book in the history classroom earlier this afternoon," Crope said. "So we stopped by the building on our way here. No big deal, right? But when we got there, we saw that the light in Nikidik's office was on and the door was just open enough to see someone standing there. I'll give you three guesses who."

"Morrible." Boq's voice was dark.

"Exactly," said Tibbett. "Obviously we couldn't just _leave_ , so we snuck closer to see if we could hear what she was saying."

"And?"

"She was talking to Nikidik," said Crope. "Well, more like he was talking. She was just going along with it, mostly."

"Nikidik kept going on and on about how much he hated you, Elphaba," Fiyero said. "Morrible kept nodding and cutting in. It sounded like she was trying to get information about you, but Nikidik wouldn't shut up."

Tibbett grinned. "'The Thropp girl is so annoying. She's so stubborn. She never listens to what I say. She's always arguing with me in class.' It was pathetic, really."

"Eventually Morrible just got sick of it and snapped at him," Crope said, obviously holding back a laugh. "What was it she said? Oh yeah. 'It seems to me that your problem isn't with the green girl herself, but with the fact that her intelligence is a threat to you, _Professor._ '"

"Yes, it was hilarious," Fiyero said darkly, scowling at the others. "Until _somebody_ couldn't hold back their laughter, and we had to run out of there before they found us."

"We made it out alright," Crope argued.

"Maybe she didn't catch us," said Fiyero, "But she definitely saw something."

His eyes met Elphaba's. The green girl's jaw was set, but her eyes stayed blank.

Boq cleared his throat. "How do you know she saw you?"

Fiyero swallowed. "I could hear her saying something as we were running off. It sounded almost like she was chanting or something."

Elphaba paled. "Magic. She was trying to use magic on you."

"I didn't feel anything," the Vinkan said. "But it was definitely there. The windows started rattling, doors were flying shut as we passed them."

"We heard Nikidik shouting," Crope said, his voice growing serious. "I think he distracted her. That's why she didn't come after us."

"Do you realize how lucky you are?" Boq asked.

"Do you realize how _stupid_ you are?" Elphaba demanded.

"We are well aware of both, thank you very much," said Tibbett.

"Besides, think about all the good that came out of this," Crope said. "We had wondered if Nikidik was working with Morrible, but now we know he's not."

" _And_ we know that Morrible is trying and failing to get more information on Elphie. That's good, isn't it?"

Elphaba pinched the bridge of her nose and exhaled. "Yes. Brilliant. Just…don't make a habit out of eavesdropping on the woman who is looking for any excuse to hurt us. Okay?"

Tibbett sighed heavily. "If you insist, Miss Elphaba."

 

***

 

If Morrible had been serious before, it was nothing compared to what was happening now. Not a day went by that Elphaba didn't see the headmistress roaming around the campus. The green girl took to heading to the safety of her room after dinner and staying there the rest of the night, and she all but begged Glinda to do the same.

The boys had a bit more freedom, but it was becoming obvious that Morrible knew Elphaba was getting help from somewhere. Fiyero started returning to the group empty-handed, reporting that the materials or tools he had tried to steal were missing or destroyed. More and more, books went missing from the library, their empty spaces left in the shelves to mock Elphaba. It seemed that everywhere she turned, Morrible was there to stop her.

The troubles didn't stop outside Shiz's campus, either. Rumors flew around of Animals from town being dragged out of their homes late at night. Most of them just packed their bags and left, but some stayed behind, living in the corners of alleyways in the darker parts of town. Boq's family lost more workers at their farm. Nessa's letters grew darker and came far less often. Munchkinland was beginning to suffer, more than it ever had before.

And all the while, Elphaba couldn't help but feel that she was running out of time. Her research was slowly being cut off. Soon, Dillamond's journal would be the only thing she had to work with. It was infuriating, being so determined and so helpless at the same time.

Elphaba slammed the journal shut one night and pushed away from her desk. It was taking all of her self control not to seize the research and throw it across the room. Instead, she got up and started pacing. As her body started moving, her mind slowed down, and she was able to think better.

Nothing could be done with the research. At least, not tonight. She was too stressed out. Tonight, she needed a break. She hoped Glinda would be back soon.

Elphaba frowned at the thought of her roommate. The blonde was working on a literature paper and had gone to fetch a book from the library, but that was over an hour ago. Elphaba glanced at the clock.

Glinda had probably just stayed at the library to work so she wouldn't have to take the book home. The green girl probably had nothing to worry about. But the library was going to close soon. And if Glinda was caught in there, with the way Morrible had been lurking around lately…

Elphaba was yanking on her shoes and darting out of the room before she had even finished her thought. She all but ran across campus, keeping an eye out for the headmistress the entire way.

To her immense relief—and slight irritation—she found Glinda on the second floor. The blonde was asleep at a table, head buried in her arms, hair spread across her books and papers. Normally Elphaba would have thought the sight to be precious, but all she could think about was the five minutes they had before the library closed. Rolling her eyes, she placed a hand on Glinda's shoulder and shook her.

"Mm…what?"

"Wake up," Elphaba said. "We've got to go."

The blonde blinked heavily. "What time is it?" she asked, yawning.

"Late. Now come on. Help me pack up your things." She closed the various books and journals and pushed them at Glinda, who—very clumsily and slowly—began stuffing them in her bag.

"Would you hurry up?" Elphaba hissed, shoving the rest of the papers at her.

"There's no need to be so rude," Glinda mumbled, closing her bag and pulling the strap over her shoulder.

"You know perfectly well why I'm upset," the green girl said. She looked around the empty library.

"Oh, relax," said Glinda. "I was studying in the library. She couldn't do anything to me, even if she was actually here."

Elphaba opened her mouth to respond, but she was cut off by the slamming of a door, echoing from downstairs. Glinda found Elphaba's hand and gripped it tight, stepping closer to her.

"We need to get out of here," Elphaba breathed. She put an arm around the blonde and steered her through a row of bookshelves. Glinda tried to tell herself that everything was fine. The librarians were just locking up. They would explain that she fell asleep working and Elphaba came to find her, and no one would get hurt.

But she knew that wasn't true, even before they heard footsteps running up the nearest staircase toward them.

"Elphie…"

The green girl grit her teeth and ran, dragging Glinda along with her. She knew this library better than anyone, even Morrible. If she could just reach the basement without being caught, then…

Elphaba wove through shelves and tables, carefully staying just out of Morrible's sight. They darted down a set of stairs and hurried through the first floor.

"Almost there," she muttered, her fingers tightening around Glinda's. "Just have to…"

They were just about to turn the corner when Elphaba stopped and yanked Glinda back. She pressed the blonde against the wall. Glinda could feel the green girl tremble, her breath hot and shallow against Glinda's ear.

"Don't move."

Glinda closed her eyes and listened to the racing of her pulse. Elphaba's chest was heaving against hers, her breath rattling in and out in quiet gasps. She couldn't hear footsteps behind them anymore, but there was another sound coming closer—a strange, metallic ticking noise…

"Grommetik," Elphaba breathed. "Damn it."

She opened her eyes and looked out over Elphaba's shoulder. A tiktok creature was wheeling back and forth across the floor, looking around itself, clearly in search of something. They were hidden now, but if they moved then the machine would surely see them. But if they stayed here, with Morrible following close behind…

Glinda focused on a bookshelf on the far side of the library, her brow furrowing. She was exhausted—just ten minutes ago she had been fast asleep—but somehow she summoned the energy she needed. Magic trickled warmly down her arms and into her fingertips. She picked a few books and fixed her gaze on them, willing them to move.

Two books flew off the shelf and clattered to the ground. Grommetik wheeled around and hurried off to investigate, and Glinda nudged Elphaba, who grabbed her hand and started running again.

Elphaba found the door to the cellar and flung it open, urging Glinda inside. She glanced around before following, and immediately wished she hadn't. There, at the top of a staircase not too far away, stood the headmistress. Morrible was glaring down at her, eyes flashing coldly. And at her side, glinting just enough to be able to see in the darkened library…

_Dillamond turned away just as the door was pushed open. Elphaba caught a glimpse of a stiff dress, a shadow, the hard glint of a knife…_

" _Elphie!_ " Glinda grabbed her hand and tugged her down the stairs. Elphaba snapped out of the memory and ran ahead, leading the way through the dank basement. She barely noticed the sting of the moist air. All she could feel was Glinda's hand in hers. All she could hear was Morrible's footsteps echoing through the hallways behind them.

Finally, _finally_ , they reached the doors that would take them back above ground. She climbed up and shoved at the wood, but it held tight.

Elphaba froze. She looked at the doors. They seemed exactly the same as the last time she had climbed through them. Pushing her terror aside, she tried to open them again, but they remained closed. With a growl, she threw herself against the doors, only to fall back again.

Glinda stepped forward and placed her palm flat against the wood. "It's been sealed shut with a spell," she said. "Use your magic!"

"Me? What about you?!"

"Yours is always stronger than mine," Glinda said. The footsteps behind them were getting louder. "Elphaba, hurry!"

"I don't know how to control it!" Elphaba hissed. "I can't—I don't know how—" She was still pounding on the door, throwing her weight against it and stumbling back. The edges of her vision were beginning to cloud over and her breath was too shallow. Morrible was getting closer, and they were trapped here with nowhere to go. She pictured Morrible approaching them, raising the knife high in the air…Glinda trembling behind her, both of them trapped and utterly defenseless…

_No, no, no._ Elphaba thought. _First with Dillamond, and now this. This can't be happening. Not here. Not with Glinda here._

Glinda watched as her roommate's eyes clouded over. Morrible was just behind them, and Elphaba was starting to panic. She realized, with a sickening jolt, that the green girl had been here before, the night Dillamond was killed—trapped, helpless, facing the exact same terror, knowing that she couldn't save the person she was with.

It was enough to make the blonde snap. Her vision darkened, then flashed bright as white heat poured through her body. She threw herself at the doors and shoved, feeling the wood start to splinter beneath her fingers as her magic fought against the seal.

With a deafening _crack,_ the cellar doors split open, shattering into the night. Glinda grabbed Elphaba and climbed through, not daring to look back.

 

***

 

By some miracle, Morrible didn't follow them back to Crage Hall. When they reached their room, Glinda closed and locked the door behind them, muttering her own spell to seal it shut. She turned, expecting to see Elphaba pacing or even just standing frozen in the middle of the room. Instead, she found the green girl collapsed on the floor, shaking uncontrollably.

"Elphie?" Glinda knelt in front of her. "Elphaba? Hey, snap out of it."

Elphaba rocked back and forth, breathing shallowly. "I-I'm sorry—I'm s-so sorry—"

"Breathe," Glinda ordered. "It's okay. We're safe now."

"S-she had a knife. I-I s-saw it."

"We got away." Glinda scooted closer and grabbed Elphaba's hands. "We're safe in the room now. Everything is fine."

"No—"

"Elphie, please. You need to breathe."

"I-I can't, I—"

"Look at me. Breathe."

Elphaba _was_ looking at Glinda. But all she could see was how close she had come to getting the blonde killed.

"I'm so sorry," she whispered, but she forced herself to take deep breaths.

When the green girl was getting enough air again, Glinda pulled them both to their feet and moved over to the bed, stopping only so they could toe off their shoes and pull the covers back.

Glinda climbed onto the bed, but Elphaba hesitated. "I'm so sorry," she repeated.

"Why are you apologizing?"

"You could've…if she had caught us…"

"Elphaba, this wasn't your fault."

The green girl screwed her eyes shut. "You were amazing. You got us out of there alive. But all I did was panic and—"

"Stop." Glinda tugged on Elphaba's hands and pulled her closer. "You got us down to the basement without getting caught."

"And then I completely lost it."

Glinda tugged on her hands again. "Lay down with me."

Numbly, Elphaba obeyed. Glinda wrapped her arms around the green girl and pulled her close. "None of this was your fault," she whispered. "You're allowed to panic. You're allowed to be afraid once in a while."

"But—"

"Hush, Elphie."

The green girl quieted, although she was still trembling. Glinda rubbed her palm in slow, warm circles along Elphaba's back. She ran her fingers through the dark hair and pressed soft kisses across Elphaba's forehead and cheeks.

"You can let go, you know," she breathed. "Just this once, you don't have to be brave."

Elphaba shook her head, but she pressed her face against the crook of Glinda's neck and curled tighter into her embrace. The blonde tangled their feet together and pulled the blanket up around them.

"Try to sleep, Elphie. I can be the strong one this time."


	65. Chapter 65

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The only thing I can say about this chapter is, there are some who will read it and think, "Finally."

The boys didn't know what had happened, but it was clear that Elphaba was shaken up.

Of course, the green girl tried hard not to show it. But she couldn't quite keep her eyes from darting around every time she entered a room, or her shoulders from tensing every time she heard someone approaching from behind. She clung to Glinda almost constantly—holding her hand, wrapping an arm around her—but the blonde wasn't complaining.

Neither girl would talk about it, and the boys knew better than to press the issue. So instead, they all tried to move on.

It was a perfect day—bright, golden, warm. Students flooded to the lake for a carefree afternoon, and their group was no exception. They found their usual spot and spread out with blankets and sandwiches and, by some miracle, fairly high spirits. The distant laughter of their classmates made Elphaba feel safe. Morrible couldn't reach them. Not today.

In fact, in the midst of the gorgeous weather, the boys' jokes, and Glinda's side pressed against hers, the green girl forgot all about the research. She forgot about Morrible, about the Wizard, about the beginnings of a war brewing just beneath Oz's surface. Just for that day, she forgot about everything but the sun warming her back, the laughter ringing in her ears, and the smile that lit up Glinda's face and never quite seemed to fade.

The afternoon seemed to last forever, yet it was all too soon that the sun was setting and they started packing away the basket. Still, they lingered out by the lake, even as everyone else began to wander back to their dorms. The group hardly realized how late it was getting until it was almost too dark to see. More than once, someone pointed out that they should probably go soon, yet no one ever bothered to actually do it.

It wasn't until the stars were shining bright and the air was thick with the sounds of crickets and frogs that the group actually forced themselves to stand up and start folding the blankets. It was still so warm, still so peaceful, and calling it a night seemed like the worst idea in the world. It was with a great deal of reluctance that they walked back to the main part of campus and parted ways to head to their separate dorms.

Glinda played with Elphaba's fingers the entire walk home, tangling and untangling them, rubbing her thumb across the green girl's knuckles, and occasionally bringing her hand up to press against her lips. Her other hand held the basket, gently swinging it as they walked along. She was humming—a quiet, made up tune that made Elphaba melt. They were the picture of innocence, of sweetness, and Elphaba had never been more content in her life.

They reached the dorm and crept up to their room. Glinda took the blanket from Elphaba and slipped inside. Elphaba shut the door quietly behind them, sure that most of Crage Hall was asleep by now. She turned, intent on grabbing her nightgown and preparing for bed, but one look at her roommate made the idea disappear completely.

Glinda had skipped over to her side of the room, still humming quietly to herself. She set the basket down and carefully draped the blanket over it. Although the room was dim, her skin glowed, as if reflecting the golden sun that had embraced them all day. Moonlight shone through the window and glimmered around the edges of her hair. Her dress swayed around her thighs as she straightened, examining the blanket. She pouted ever so slightly, but then her eyes brightened and she leaned over once more, delicate hands reaching for a corner of the blanket and folding it up, revealing the pattern underneath. She stood up again and grinned, admiring her handiwork.

Elphaba stared, mesmerized. It was picture perfect. It was subtle, gorgeous. It was so incredibly and impossibly _Glinda._ And in that moment, Elphaba felt her heart simultaneously shatter and soar.

The blonde felt eyes on her and turned, grinning bashfully. She expected a smirk, an eye roll, maybe even a gentle head shake. What she did not expect was to find the green girl staring at her, mouth hanging slightly open, her eyes wide with some strange mix of pain and desire.

"I love you."

Glinda opened her mouth to respond, but she never got the chance. Elphaba was there, cupping her face and capturing her lips with such ferocity that she was immediately breathless. The blonde didn't realize she was being guided back until her knees hit the edge of her bed. Elphaba's hands drifted over her shoulders and down her sides. She gripped Glinda's thighs and lifted, carrying her and moving them both back onto the mattress. As they settled, their legs tangled together and her mouth explored the blonde's jaw and neck, caressing every angle, every pulse point, masterfully drawing out tiny gasps and whimpers.

The blonde was lost. Her fingers fluttered, combing through Elphie's hair, caressing a cheek, tracing the lines of her collarbone. The emerald skin was soft and warm beneath her touch, and the only half-coherent thought she had was _more_. As soon as she had thought it, Elphaba's hands moved to her back, lifting gently. Glinda felt the clasp of her dress come undone, followed quickly by the zipper. Slender green fingers ran up her spine and rested on her shoulders, gripping the straps of the dress.

For the first time, Elphaba hesitated. Her eyes met Glinda's, questioning. The blonde was so distracted by the affection she saw there, it took her a moment to respond. Her hand reached up to grab the green face and, with a tiny nod, she pulled their lips together.

Elphaba deepened the kiss as she pulled down the dress. Her hands reached blindly, pushing the garment away, and settled on the blonde's hips.

Glinda squirmed and broke the kiss, suddenly and wholly aware of how exposed she was beneath her roommate's gaze. But Elphaba's eyes were smoldering, embracing her.

"I love you," she said again. One hand drifted up her spine and fingered the clasp of her bra. Her trembling fingers fumbled for a moment before undoing the undergarment and sliding it off. Glinda shivered, but then Elphaba's hands returned, one steadying itself at her hip and the other resting flat on her stomach.

The green girl paused and their eyes met again.

"Are you sure?" Glinda breathed.

Elphaba stared down at her. Her hair was strewn about the pillow. Her skin still glowed, soft and perfect. Her lips were slightly swollen and her chest rose and fell in a steady, enticing rhythm. Her eyes were wide and fiery, a brighter blue than she had ever seen them. The sight was absolutely breathtaking, and Elphaba was slowly and blissfully losing her mind. She couldn't have said no if she wanted to.

But Oz, she didn't want to.

Her fingers twitched over Glinda's stomach. Elphaba ran her hand up her torso and paused over her sternum, pressing gently. She let her fingers drift to the side, resting over Glinda's heart. Slowly, with all the certainty in the world, she nodded.

Whatever resistance Glinda had left vanished. She surged upward to capture Elphaba's lips with her own. Her hands explored blindly, undoing Elphaba's dress and bra and pushing the clothes away.

Elphaba felt cool air against her skin and took a shuddering breath. She ducked her head, cheeks darkening, but Glinda didn't let her hide for long. She tangled a hand in Elphaba's hair and pulled their faces close again, leaving just enough room to meet each other's eyes. She licked her lips and brushed her nose over Elphaba's.

"Kiss me," Glinda breathed. To Elphaba, there was no other option.

Glinda grabbed Elphaba's hips and pulled her closer, craving contact with every inch of emerald skin. Elphaba complied, shifting around and positioning herself over the blonde, straddling her. She grabbed Glinda's hand and pinned it to the mattress, tangling their fingers together. She braced herself with her other arm and moved lower until every part of her was pressed against Glinda. The blonde arched into the touch, pressing their chests together, and Elphaba let out a breathy moan.

Fingers and mouths explored, reaching and tasting and touching. It wasn't long before one of them dared to move lower—or maybe it was hours later. Time had ceased to exist. In fact, everything had seemed to stop existing. Everything but silky hair and smooth planes of skin under trembling fingers and hot, wet mouths and the smell of wildflowers and rich oils and just a hint of lake air.

It didn't seem possible, but each new discovery made Elphaba fall even more hopelessly for the blonde. She marveled at the sweat that coated her body, the angles and curves that she traced with her fingers and then her lips. She felt her insides disappear, replaced with white heat, when she first reached between the blonde's legs. She craved Glinda's heat, her taste, her movements—her body arching and twisting and tightening, her feet sliding against the bed, her fingers curling into the sheets, her hands reaching for any and every part of Elphaba. Most of all, she craved Glinda's voice. Every gasp, every moan, every whisper of "please," or "Elphie," or "I love you" sent the green girl into a dizzying bliss. But nothing could compare to the cry that escaped her lips when Elphaba curled her fingers tight and closed her lips around the bundle of nerves.

And when Glinda caught her breath and flipped her over with glowing eyes and a wicked smile, Elphaba lost herself all over again.

She wasn't quite sure when it shifted—when heated moans turned into whispered affections, when possessing grips turned into slow, tender caresses, when Glinda was no longer inside her but nestled against her, and smoldering eyes were fluttering shut.

Elphaba had just enough energy to reach for the sheet and pull it up around them. Her lips lingered against Glinda's forehead and her fingers drifted, tracing slow, mindless patterns across her arms, her back, her hips. They fell asleep just like that: the moonlight enveloping them, their scents mingling in the cool air, and Elphaba still moving softly against Glinda, never wanting to stop.


	66. Chapter 66

Glinda’s senses were awake before she was the next morning. She felt warm and soft and safe. She heard gentle breathing and quiet birdsong. She could smell…something. A little bit of her perfume, more of Elphaba’s oils, and something else…

She grinned and pressed her face into what she now remembered to be Elphaba’s bare chest. For a while she simply lay there, still not completely awake, and focused on the sensations. Her legs were intertwined with Elphaba’s. Thin arms were wrapped around her torso, keeping her close. One hand still moved ever so slowly, drawing endless circles across the small of her back.

She tilted her head up to look at Elphaba, but the green girl was fast asleep, her lips parted just a little. Glinda resisted the urge to kiss her awake and instead glanced over at the window. After a moment’s concentration, the curtains slid shut, keeping most of the sunlight out of the room.

Glinda adjusted herself and nestled down once more. Elphaba’s arms tightened unconsciously around her, and she barely had enough time to smile before she was asleep again.

 

***

 

Elphaba didn’t know what time it was when she woke up later that morning. In fact, there was a lot she didn’t know. She wasn’t even sure if she was awake. All she knew was that everything felt so impossibly _good,_ and she was almost disappointed when her eyes opened.

That is, until she caught sight of Glinda wrapped around her, covered with nothing but the thin sheet she had grabbed last night.

“Good morning, my sweet,” the green girl breathed. Glinda burrowed her face further into Elphaba.

“Shh. We’re not awake yet.”

“What time is it?”

“Not important.”

Elphaba lifted herself onto her elbows. “We have to get up _some_ time _._ ”

The blonde lifted her head and scowled up at her. “Yeah? Says who?” She slid a leg over Elphaba, running her toes up a toned green calf before settling into place on her hips. Glinda leaned over and pressed her lips just beneath Elphaba’s ear. “Maybe I want to keep you here all day long.”

Elphaba shivered, but Glinda placed a finger over her lips before she could protest.

“It’s a Sunday,” the blonde whispered, kissing her way down Elphaba’s jaw. “I could do it, you know.” She held herself up with one hand and let the other drift down, running lightly over her breasts, grinning when the green girl arched and whimpered.

“We can’t,” Elphaba gasped. “I’ve got to—I told the others—the boys will wonder—”

“Let them wonder.” Glinda’s voice dropped and she slid her hand lower. “Besides,” she said, her fingers meeting slick heat. “Something tells me you don’t really want to leave.”

“ _Oz,_ ” Elphaba breathed, her eyes fluttering shut.

“But if you _really_ want to go...” the blonde said innocently, pulling her hand away.

Elphaba’s hand shot down and gripped her wrist. “Glinda,” she whispered, “ _Please_.”

She smirked but brought her hand back, giving the green girl exactly what she wanted.

Elphaba didn’t even think about leaving for the rest of the day.

 

***

 

The change was subtle that Monday morning, when they met the boys for breakfast. If Boq and Fiyero noticed a different sort of glow between the girls, they didn’t address it. Crope and Tibbett knew no such boundaries, but Glinda would wave their questions off with a sweet-voiced, “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” and Elphaba’s hand would creep further up her thigh as if to say, _Oh, don’t you?_

It was exhilarating and new, and Elphaba thought she could get used to this. Unfortunately, she never had the chance.

An hour later found them all in the back of the history classroom. Glinda was focusing intently on Elphaba’s hand, tracing her fingers over creases in her palm, trying to find all the most sensitive spots. Boq and Fiyero were getting into a slightly intense yet friendly argument over the latest topic for their literature papers. Crope and Tibbett were ripping pages out of their notebooks and folding them into various shapes, occasionally flicking them across the tables at unsuspecting classmates.

Normally they would have paid very little attention when Nikidik walked into the room and started the lecture. But as the professor wheeled a cart to the front of the class and called for quiet, the entire group stopped what they were doing and sat up a little straighter.

“Master Avaric, come help me unload this.”

Elphaba watched as Avaric and Nikidik pulled the tarp off the cart, revealing intricate chains and locks and thick metal bars. They pulled the cage off the cart and placed it on Nikidik’s desk for everyone to see. As Avaric took his seat again, Nikidik leaned on the cart and gazed across the room. He smirked when he caught sight of Elphaba.

“As you may recall, a few weeks ago we discussed Sir Lamren’s invention of the cage, and how it was being revolutionized. Does anyone remember why?”

Elphaba wasn’t surprised when Pfannee spoke up. “The Wizard was funding a line of improved cages to hold Animals.”

“That’s exactly right,” said Nikidik. “And here I have the latest from Oz’s engineers. Now—”

“What does this have to do with history?” Elphaba asked, cutting him off. Nikidik narrowed his eyes.

“This is an important part of our modern society, Miss Elphaba,” he said. “And current events are important to history.”

“True, but this isn’t current events,” the green girl argued. “Current events would be looking at the stripping of Animal rights from a neutral standpoint. _This_ is just propaganda.”

“Hold your tongue, Miss Elphaba, or I’ll have you removed from my classroom.” Nikidik’s eyes were cold. Reluctantly, Elphaba crossed her arms over her chest and sat back.

Glinda’s hand found hers. “Look at the cage,” she whispered. “It’s so flawed. The lock is out in the open instead of being covered. An animal wouldn’t even notice, but an Animal would be able to free themselves in a matter of seconds. And the bars are too wide. Most Animals could slip right out.” She glanced up at Elphaba. “These engineers are absolute idiots. Think of all the money and effort the Wizard is pouring into this, only to have such mediocre results.”

The green girl’s lips twitched and she gave Glinda’s fingers a grateful squeeze before turning back to Nikidik.

“Now, this particular cage is meant to hold smaller creatures,” he was saying. “It couldn’t fit…oh, say, a Lion or an Ape or…I don’t know, a Goat.”

Nikidik’s eyes met Elphaba’s. Somewhere in the classroom she heard Pfannee and Milla and Shenshen giggling. Her fingers curled into fists and the blood rushed to her ears, but she didn’t even have a chance to respond.

“And how exactly would you get an Animal into a cage?” Glinda asked calmly. Beneath the tables, her thumb brushed over Elphaba’s knuckles, soothing her. “Professor?” she added innocently.

“That would depend on what type of Animal you were trying to capture, Miss Glinda.”

“Oh, I don’t know,” the blonde said. “How about a Lion, since you brought it up.”

“Well that would be easy,” said Nikidik. “You would just play to the creature’s desires. Lions are carnivores, yes? Simply place their favorite type of carcass into the cage and one will be sure to wander in.”

“Great idea,” Glinda said. “Except I think you missed a few vital details. Like the fact that Lions—and even lions—are hunters, not scavengers. Unless they were desperate, they wouldn’t bother with an already dead meal. In fact, they would be far more likely to go after the idiot who was trying to lure them into a cage in the first place.”

Nikidik glared at her and started to protest, but the blonde wasn’t stopping there.

“Obviously you couldn’t handle a larger Animal, but I’m still curious, Professor. Let’s try a far less dangerous Animal. One that could fit in this cage, for example. How would you capture an Animal like that?”

“I don’t appreciate the tone you’re taking with me, Miss Glinda.”

“What, no answer?” Glinda asked. “Do you even know how to use a cage at all? Or do you just like it because it’s new and shiny?”

There were a few snickers across the classroom. Crope and Tibbett were beaming at Glinda with their hands over their hearts. Elphaba stared at the blonde—taking in the cool glint in her eyes, the arch of her brows, the way she held herself, confident and fierce and stubborn—and had the sudden, overwhelming urge to kiss her senseless.

Nikidik fidgeted. “Fine, then. Say I were to trap a…a Fox, in this cage. It’s simple. I would use some sort of bait, some incentive for the creature to go in and investigate. Then it would be as good as mine.”

“Yes, simple. Like your brain, I would think.” There was a dangerous edge to Glinda’s voice now. “But you are forgetting a few key parts yet again. See, a Fox would sense something was wrong. Even if you were to disguise the cage, he or she would undoubtedly figure out that it was a trap. A Fox, just like a Lion, is not some dumb creature. It would be just as difficult to get them or any other Animal into a cage as it would be a human.” She had been getting louder and louder with every sentence, but now she lowered her voice. “Well, most humans. Some of us, _clearly_ , are more simple-minded than others.”

Silence reigned over the classroom. The boys looked like they were resisting the urge to applaud. Nikidik was furious. Glinda just looked smug.

“This is surprising, Miss Glinda,” the professor said, regaining composure. “I was informed when I arrived at this school that you would be no trouble at all. That you were—how did she put it?—a dimwitted young blonde who could not think for herself, but merely repeated what others told her.”

Glinda’s eyes flashed and her cheeks flushed red, but she stayed still. Elphaba, on the other hand, snapped her head up to glare at the professor. He went on, unfazed.

“I wasn’t sure. You seemed quiet enough, and smart enough to at least pretend you know what’s going on.”

“How dare you, you—”

Nikidik ignored Elphaba. “Now I suppose she was right. Tell me, do you really think all that, or are you simply spouting the nonsense you hear from your deranged vegetable of a girlfriend?”

The blonde said nothing. Nikidik smirked. “I thought so. Only brave for a moment or two at a time, I suppose. A rather pathetic display, if you ask me.”

Glinda’s hand slid out of Elphaba’s and her shoulder hunched. It was subtle enough that no one else noticed, but the green girl snapped.

“Shut up!” The cage door burst open, slamming into Nikidik. “Shut _up_ , you miserable excuse for a human being!”

Nikidik pushed the cage door away and strode to the back of the classroom, stopping just in front of their table. He leaned forward so that he towered over the seated green girl, but she stood up so they were level. The air was charged. The room was still.

“You have no authority here, Miss Elphaba,” Nikidik said.

“Clearly, neither do you.”

“I am the teacher of this class. If I say something, it is fact. It is law.”

“Then the authority you claim is built from nothing but insecurity and weakness,” Elphaba growled.

Nikidik stepped closer. “You are in the minority here, therefore you are powerless and insignificant. You can go on about your pathetic ideas all day long, but that doesn’t change the fact that both you and the little blonde brat are—”

There’s nothing quite like the sound of flesh hitting flesh. It was short, relatively quiet, yet the entire room heard it.

Nikidik stumbled back, a hand flying up to his already bleeding nose. Elphaba lowered her fists, breathing hard.

“Class is dismissed,” Nikidik muttered. No one moved. “Get out!” he shouted.

Students scrambled to grab their things and run out of the room. Nikidik’s eyes met Elphaba’s. “You. You’re coming with me to see the headmistress.”

The boys and Glinda jumped to their feet.

“You’re the one that antagonized her!” the blonde said. “You can’t just—”

“You have no say in what I can and can’t do,” he said, turning on her. “Now shut up before I send you to Morrible as well.”

“But—”

“Grab your bag, green bean. We’re going.”

Elphaba slammed her things into her bag, her blood running cold as she caught sight of Dillamond’s journal. She glanced up at the others. Boq met her eyes, a panicked understanding filling his gaze. He opened his own bag and took a half step forward. If she could pass it to him, just real quick, before—

Nikidik grabbed her arm and started dragging her out of the room. She jerked back, but his grip stayed strong, and Elphaba had no choice but to be led out the door.

“ _No!_ ”

Fiyero and Boq lunged forward, grabbing Glinda before she could run after them. The blonde twisted in their grip, desperately trying to break free. “What are you doing?” she screamed. “Let me go! He can’t take her to Morrible! Do you realize what will happen? Let me _go!_ ”

The table and chairs next to them flew back, crashing across the classroom. Crope and Tibbett rushed forward and tried to help keep the blonde still.

“Calm down!” Fiyero said, shouting to be heard over the air that was suddenly rushing around them. “There’s nothing we can do now!”

“Glinda!” Boq yelled. “Glinda, listen to us. Freaking out like this isn’t helping anything.”

“Then let me go! Let me go help her!”

“We can’t!” shouted Tibbett. “We promised Elphaba we’d protect you!”

“If you go after her,” Crope said. “If you try to stop Morrible, it’ll only make things worse.”

Glinda sank a little and the room started to quiet down. Fiyero shifted so he was hugging the blonde instead of holding her back, and the others let go. She nearly collapsed, but Fiyero caught her and kept her steady.

“No matter what Morrible does,” he whispered, “Nothing would hurt her more than you going in there.”

 

***

 

“Come in.”

Nikidik pulled the door open and shoved Elphaba inside. Morrible paused at the sight of her. Slowly, she pushed aside the paper she had been writing on and folded her hands on top of her desk. She raised an eyebrow when Nikidik walked in behind the green girl.

“Causing trouble again, Miss Elphaba?”

“I don’t see where the ‘again’ comes from, Madame Morrible,” she said coolly. “I’ve never been reprimanded by any of the other teachers.”

“And yet here you are, apparently having attacked Professor Nikidik.” Morrible glanced at Nikidik. “Shouldn’t you be heading to the infirmary?”

“You’re a sorceress,” he protested. “Can’t you fix this?”

Morrible narrowed her eyes at him. “Healing spells are not my specialty. I can mend surface wounds, yes, but this would be dealing with bone structure. Now go. I will deal with Miss Elphaba.”

Nikidik scowled, but he turned and left, shutting the office door behind him.

Elphaba simply looked at Morrible, waiting. The headmistress gazed back, silent. Her eyes gleamed and her lips twitched up into a smirk. The air in the room grew heavy. There was something about being here, finally standing face to face with the woman who had been haunting her for months now—not fleeing from libraries, not slipping past her on a crowded sidewalk, not jumping out of a shabby inn window and running through dirty side streets. Just standing here, silently studying each other. Every tense encounter, every close escape, it all was leading up to…

“Have a seat, Miss Elphaba.”

Elphaba walked forward but didn’t sit down. Her mouth was dry and her throat was tight, preventing her from speaking. Not that it mattered, really. Her mind was completely blank.

“Give me your bag.”

“What?”

“You heard me.”

Elphaba gripped the strap of her bag. “You have no right to—”

Morrible waved her hand and Elphaba was pushed back into the chair. At that moment Grommetik appeared, wheeling by and yanking the bag from Elphaba’s grasp.

“Hey!”

The headmistress took the bag from Grommetik, looking utterly bored. She set it on her desk and started digging through its contents. Elphaba’s heart pounded, but she could do nothing to stop her as she pulled out the old, faded journal that had been searched through so many times it was starting to fall apart.

Morrible met Elphaba’s eyes. She turned to the fireplace and, without any hesitation, tossed the journal in.

“ _No!_ ” Elphaba leapt to her feet, but she was forced back with another wave of Morrible’s hand. The headmistress turned back to her, eyes cold and dangerous.

“You have meddled with issues that are way over your head, Miss Elphaba. You know what happened to Dillamond, what has happened to Animals and their supporters all over Oz. I am sparing you now, but consider this your final warning. The next time you choose to defy me, much more than a book will be burned.”

Elphaba tore her eyes from the burning journal. “I’m not afraid of you,” she said through clenched teeth.

“Oh, but you are,” Morrible crooned. “If not for yourself, then for your pathetic little friends. Now get out.”

She hesitated, glancing once more at the fireplace. Dillamond’s journal—months of hard work and late nights, endless research, the last thing she had of her old mentor—was crumbling to nothing but a pile of ashes, right before her eyes. Elphaba knew she should be relieved. Morrible could have just as easily tossed her into the flames.

But as she stood from the chair and forced herself to walk out of the office, she couldn’t help but feel as though a part of her was burning right along with the research.


	67. Chapter 67

Elphaba walked into her dorm room and was greeted by a flurry of movement. Glinda, eyes red and face pale, flew at her, pulling her into a tight hug with the intent of never letting go. Over the blonde's shoulder, Elphaba saw the rest of the boys scrambling to their feet. They looked out of place in the girls' dorm, but at the moment she couldn't even care.

Glinda stepped back just enough to let her breathe, and the room seemed to darken. They all stared at Elphaba, waiting.

"It…" She swallowed, trying to find her voice. "It's gone. She destroyed it."

"Elphaba," Boq breathed, stepping forward.

"Dillamond's journal," she said. "The entire thing…the only information we had left…is…gone." She didn't even care that Glinda was there, listening to every word. It didn't matter anymore.

Glinda squeezed her tighter. "Are you alright? Did she…?"

"She didn't touch me," Elphaba said quietly. "It was a warning."

Fiyero spoke up. "But…it's okay, right? We've done so much without her knowing. We can keep going, right?"

The boys all looked up at her, eyes wide, struggling to not show their fear. Elphaba knew they wanted a bold answer. They wanted her to be snarky and passionate and daring. They wanted her to say that they weren't done, they would never be done. Morrible couldn't stop them.

But Glinda turned into her and buried her face in the crook of her neck, and all Elphaba wanted to do was cry.

"I…don't know," she said thickly, tightening her arms around the blonde. "I don't know what happens now."

Surprisingly, it was Tibbett who broke the silence that followed. "We should go. We'll leave you two be."

Crope nodded. "Dinner at six, if we don't see you before then. Let's go, guys."

They nudged Boq and Fiyero into motion. Glinda reached for Fiyero's hand and started to say something to him. Boq pulled Elphaba to the side.

"We'll figure something out, Elphaba," he said, too quiet for anyone else to hear.

She looked at her feet. "You know you're not supposed to be here. If you guys got caught in the girls' dorm…"

"We couldn't leave Glinda, and this seemed like the safest place for her to be."

Elphaba closed her eyes. "…Thank you."

"It's going to be okay. This isn't the end."

She nodded and watched him and the others leave. Boq could say it all he wanted, but Elphaba wasn't convinced. The journal was one of the last things they had to go off of, and now it was gone. There was nothing left. Morrible would ruin anything they managed to accomplish. For one lingering moment, Elphaba wondered what she was even doing here anymore.

Glinda stepped back into her arms. Their eyes met, but there was nothing to say. Elphaba let herself be led back to the bed, where she laid down and held Glinda close. They didn't move. They didn't speak. They simply lay there, and Elphaba closed her eyes, trying to find some comfort in the sound of Glinda's breathing.

 

***

 

Dinner was quiet that night. The other students were roaming around, enjoying the warm weather before they were forced to think about finals and summer plans and all other sorts of responsibilities. But the group at the back of the café was silent as they ate, each lost in their own thoughts. Even Crope and Tibbett were subdued, pushing their food around on their plates without actually eating much.

Elphaba seemed hesitant as she and Glinda said a quiet goodnight to the boys and made their way back to Crage Hall, but Glinda just held her hand and waited. When they walked into the room, the green girl lingered at the door. She leaned her head back against the wood and let out a breath. "Glinda, I…"

Glinda looked at her, but Elphaba just shook her head. She pushed away from the door and went to her wardrobe to pull out a nightgown. The blonde watched her for a moment, then moved to change into her own nightclothes. She could be patient.

Glinda slipped into Elphaba's bed and patted the spot next to her. The green girl smiled, but her eyes were sad. She settled in next to the blonde, lying so they were face to face. Then she took a deep breath.

"You deserve the truth."

Glinda reached down until she found Elphaba's hand and intertwined their fingers. "You don't have to tell me anything you don't want to. I'm just glad you're safe."

Elphaba looked down at their hands, then back up at her. "You deserve the truth."

The blonde stayed silent. Elphaba closed her eyes, sighed quietly, then opened them again.

"I'm just gonna…start from the beginning and…tell you all of it. You'll already know a lot, but…"

Glinda squeezed her fingers and nodded. Elphaba bit her lip, her brow furrowing. Then…

"The day Dr. Dillamond left Shiz, he gave me his journal." She started with the basics: what Dillamond had told her, his warning about Morrible, what the journal contained. She told Glinda about what the research meant, how excited she was in those first few weeks, burying herself in the library late at night, working on something that could actually make a difference in Oz.

"That's why I wanted to stay here over Lurlinemas break. But something else happened when I was home. I met a Bird who was wandering through Munchkinland. When he found out I was working with Dillamond's research, he wanted to help." She didn't say Peric's name, but she told Glinda all about him—how he wandered through Oz causing trouble, how he wanted to help with Dillamond's work, how he became her only friend on the Colwen Grounds, helping her with the research and the Eminency decision. "He's the one who suggested writing to Dillamond," Elphaba said quietly.

"Where is he now?"

"I…don't know." She wouldn't talk about the Resistance. If Glinda knew about it, then she'd be in even more danger. Besides, it wasn't something Elphaba wanted to think about right now. She would have to, and soon, but not tonight.

So she went on, talking about Boq, and how he pestered her from the beginning. How Fiyero overheard a conversation and stole the journal from Morrible's office, forcing his way into their secret. She told her about Crope and Tibbett cornering her, about everyone jumping in to the research without a second thought, helping her in any way they could, even after everything that had happened.

She didn't talk much about the meeting with Dr. Dillamond. In all honesty, she couldn't. But she told her about everything the Goat had told her—how the Wizard was manipulating the country to stay in power, how it might just all be a way to cover up how weak he was. How he was linked to Morrible, using the headmistress as a way to control the next generation of educated citizens.

She told her about how things had been changing—books and supplies were going missing, campus rules were getting stricter, and Morrible was getting closer and closer. She had known for weeks now that her time was running out, and now, it seemed, it finally had.

What she didn't tell Glinda was that she had no idea what to do next. What she didn't tell her was that Dillamond had told her to finish her studies, but had never been able to tell her how to do so with Morrible hovering over her. What she didn't tell her—what she couldn't even begin to fathom telling her—was that somewhere, hidden in the Emerald City, shrouded in rumor and violence, was a group that knew her name, knew the work she had done, and was quite possibly waiting for her to come looking for them.

And at the end of it all, she told Glinda how much she loved her. She apologized for the lying and the secrets. She said Glinda deserved better, deserved someone who could protect her, not drag her into this mess of secrets and danger. She told her how she wished things were different. How she wished they could just be safe and happy, far away from the research and Morrible and the Wizard and all the horrors that were rising around them.

Glinda said nothing. She studied Elphaba for a long while when the green girl was finished. Then she leaned in and kissed her, slow, soft, and steady. The silence of their room rang in Elphaba's ears, broken only by quiet breaths and the occasional rustle of sheets. She pulled Glinda closer—she may not have deserved her, but that didn't mean she was strong enough to let her go—and reached up to cup her face. Her fingers met wetness, trails of silent tears down the blonde's cheeks. But because it was Glinda, she let it burn.


	68. Chapter 68

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This will be the second to last update. The last two chapters will be posted together (since 70 is more of an epilogue...type...thing). Anyway. Thank you so much to everyone who has read, commented, left kudos, recommended, etc. I'm absolutely amazed by all the feedback this fic has gotten. Thank you.

Elphaba sat on the front steps of the library, knees curled up to her chest, waiting for Glinda to get out of sorcery class so they could get lunch. She was done with classes for the day, and so was Boq, who sat next to her. Crope, Tibbett, and Fiyero were lounging around as well, but she had a feeling they were skipping their lectures. Not that she really cared.

Boq was saying something to her, but she couldn't quite bring herself to focus. She knew he was trying—Oz, they were all trying—but it was no use.

"I don't think she's listening, Boq," said Crope. Elphaba blinked.

"Sorry," she muttered. "What did you say?"

The Munchkin's eyes were pleading with her. "We can't give up now. Not when we've come so far."

Elphaba rubbed her eyes. "We've come so far, yes. But now we have nowhere else to go."

"Don't say that," Fiyero said.

"It's true, though. We've been slowing down, running out of ideas, even before Morrible destroyed the journal."

"You can't just give up," Boq said heatedly. "You can't just let her win."

Elphaba scowled at her knees. "Well, then, what do you suggest I do?"

"Stay this summer." His voice was quiet. "Stay here, with us. With Glinda. There will be less students, more free time. Stay at Shiz, and we can figure something out."

She pressed her lips together and looked away. To them, summer meant freedom. Invincibility. Opportunity. To her, it meant months held in place by Morrible. No, not just Morrible. By Shiz itself.

"Elphaba," Boq said softly. "This doesn't have to be the end."

She lifted her head to gaze out over the campus, her eyes dark. "I don't know," she whispered.

 

***

 

In the weeks that followed, the boys alternated between keeping their distance and trying to get Elphaba to say she would stay at Shiz. Glinda stayed out of it, though they kept no secrets from her now. But she was begging Elphaba in her own way, mostly just by being beside the green girl. It was almost enough to make her never leave.

Almost.

The end of the semester drew closer, and the girls couldn't help but wonder about everything that had changed. There were the big things, of course, but some instances were more subtle.

Like Glinda herself. There had always been depth beneath the bubbly blonde surface, and now it was on display for the whole world to see. Her reputation around Shiz had shifted. She was known to be intelligent, but in a sort of private way. She was quieter now than at the beginning of the year. She was steady, confident, but still kind—if you asked anyone other than Pfannee or Avaric or the few students that hung around them.

Her eyes were a shade darker and a hint more guarded. Her hands were ever so slightly rougher. "From casting magic," she mumbled to a half-listening Elphaba once. "It leaves marks. Like any skill, I suppose."

Her letters to Ama Clutch had grown more and more serious. Not enough for the old woman to worry too much, but enough for her to know that if the blonde visited home over the summer, she wouldn't be the same.

_I don't know the end of the semester will bring,_ she wrote once. _I plan to stay here at Shiz, and so does everyone else. But Elphaba hasn't given a definite answer yet. She seems to retreat every time someone asks her about it. I'm afraid…_

But what she was afraid of, she couldn't quite say. The words wouldn't come. She didn't want them to, anyway.

What Glinda couldn't put into words, Elphaba couldn't stop thinking.

Everyone wanted her to stay at Shiz, but something—everything—was telling her not to. What could she do here? The library had proven to be no longer safe. She couldn't get into the labs or classrooms or _anywhere_ without fear of being caught by the headmistress. Materials and tools and books were being stolen or destroyed. No matter what she did, Morrible was there to either stop her or threaten her into submission.

_What am I even doing here anymore?_ she thought.

But…if she wasn't at Shiz, where would she be? Shiz was home. Shiz was knowledge and opportunity, and freedom from her father. Shiz was Boq and Fiyero and Crope and Tibbett and—most of all—Glinda.

Being away from Glinda was the worst thought in the world, but it kept nagging at her. It came to her when they were apart, it hit her when they were together. Sometimes it flooded through her mind, so swift and intense that all she could do was hold still and take deep breaths until her body relaxed enough to function again.

More and more, the green girl found herself trapped by her inner thoughts. Sometimes Glinda let her be, giving her space to sort through whatever was troubling her. But other times the blonde couldn't stand it, and when Elphaba tensed and her eyes darkened, she would drag the green girl away to the nearest empty room. Only when Glinda was pressed against her, pinning her to a wall or a table or one of their beds, did Elphaba's mind finally shut up for a while.

But it could only last for so long.

Distance grew between them, in a way that Glinda couldn't explain, only feel. It tainted the air when it should have been growing sweeter, signaling summer's arrival. It darkened the sky when the days grew brighter and longer.

Still, neither girl let the feeling linger between them. They laughed when they could and held each other close when they couldn't. The end of semester might be looming, bringing with it daunting unknowns, but it wasn't here yet. They still had time.

Glinda skipped dinner once, her thoughts distracting her too much to even stop by and tell the others she was alright, just not hungry. Instead, she walked straight past the café and out of the main part of campus. She wasn't sure she would remember the way, but her feet carried her there with no problem.

She knelt in front of the polished stone of Dillamond's memorial. The fire was still burning, though it turned darker when she hovered her hand over it. Glinda wasn't quite sure why she had come here, but then she started sniffing.

"Tell her to stay," she whispered. She looked down at the stone, then up at the sky. "Please. Tell her to stay."

She kept kneeling beneath the tree, occasionally ripping up strands of grass and burning them over the flames, until it was almost too dark to find her way back.

Elphaba was pacing the room when Glinda returned.

"Where were you?" It was meant to be angry, but the words came out as nothing more than a shaky whisper.

"Walking," Glinda replied just as softly. "I'm sorry. I should have told you. I was going to, but…"

The green girl swallowed, then held out her arms. Glinda stepped into the hug.

"I thought…I was worried that…"

"I'm okay," the blonde said. "I promise."

Elphaba's arms tightened around her. "Come to bed," she whispered in her ear.

Glinda shivered, but nodded into her chest. Elphaba guided her back to sit on the edge of the green girl's bed. She knelt in front of Glinda, her hands running slowly down one leg until her fingers found the straps of her shoes. She pulled one off, then the other, her eyes never leaving the blonde's.

Elphaba rose to her feet, her hands sliding up Glinda's thighs, taking the skirt of her dress with them. Glinda stood with her and lifted her arms, allowing the dress to be lifted over her head and tossed to the side. Her undergarments quickly followed, along with Elphaba's own clothes.

Every move the green girl made was slow, measured. She guided Glinda back onto the bed and gently lowered them down. Her hands travelled up and down the blonde, taking their time as if memorizing every last detail of her body. Her lips hovered above the blonde's, letting their breath mingle without ever actually kissing her. And all the while her eyes burned into Glinda's, her gaze devouring, holding her in place.

Something had changed. Something that Elphaba didn't want to admit, and Glinda didn't want to name. But while conflict had clouded Elphaba's eyes when she first lowered them to the bed, passion and devotion had long since replaced it. Glinda felt, somehow, a promise in every caress. Something that said _I love you_ and _together_ and _no matter what_. And because of that, she was able to let go for just a while—to forget everything but Elphaba's breath and Elphaba's heartbeat and Elphaba's touch reaching out to her, holding her at the edge, sending her into the most pleasurable abyss she had ever fallen through, then pulling her back home again.

When her senses returned to her, Elphaba was holding her close, almost clinging to her. Glinda held her back, matching the desperate embrace, and said the only words she could think of, though she wasn't sure they would make any difference.

"I am so deeply, utterly, madly in love with you."

Elphaba answered, but only in her head. She didn't trust her voice. Glinda wasn't sure what the silence meant, but she had no more words to try to find out. Elphaba held her close and placed soft kisses over her forehead, her cheeks, her jaw, and finally her lips, and for the moment, that was the only thing that mattered.

 

***

 

Elphaba lay still, listening to Glinda's quiet, steadying breathing. Normally the sound—and the smell and the feel of the blonde all around her—would lull her to sleep. Not tonight.

She finally gathered enough courage to gently untangle herself from Glinda's embrace and slid out of bed. She didn't go far—just over to her desk, where she sat down and stared back at the blonde sleeping in her bed, illuminated dimly by the moon and stars.

For all the raging and panic her mind had put forth the last few weeks, it was quiet now. And though the thoughts that came were painful, they were clear.

Every passing day was a waste. Dillamond was gone. The journal was gone. Shiz was turning into a prison for her, with Morrible as the warden. Hell, Glinda couldn't even go on a walk around campus without Elphaba fearing for her life. If she stayed here, nothing would change.

Her friends would be questioned, possibly, but nothing more. They would be safe—free to wander around the university and study in the library and go about their lives as normal students.

And what would she do? Elphaba closed her eyes and remembered the last conversation she'd had with Dr. Dillamond.

_You said they knew about this research, about me._ _Will I have to go there someday?_

_A part of me sincerely hopes not. But…yes. I believe you will._

This fight for equality, for justice, even just for survival, was only beginning for Elphaba. But for Crope and Tibbett and Fiyero and Boq, and for the breathtaking young woman who was lying peacefully in her bed, holding her heart—even now, when it felt like breaking—the fight was over.

_This doesn't have to be the end,_ Boq kept saying. He was right. It didn't have to be the end. But if she was to keep going, it couldn't be here.

And so, as she watched Glinda from across the room, her vision blurring with burning tears, she made her decision.


	69. Chapter 69

_Glinda,_

_You're in class right now, probably wondering where I am. I told Boq to keep you occupied until lessons were done for the day. I told him to trust me, I had an idea, but I refused to tell him what it was. I hope he can forgive me, and I hope you can, too._

_I told you once that there was no one in all of Oz who deserves you, and that still holds true. I won't tell you not to change, because changing is what people do. I can only tell you that I hope every change brings you to better places and better people—people who won't hurt you or bring you into harm's way._

_I'm sorry._

_I don't know how to say this without making it sound forced or cliché. I don't want to do this, but I don't have a choice. I can't let you get hurt._

_Remember the day Dr. Dillamond left? Remember how torn up I was? I would have followed him right out of Shiz. I would have fought the entire Gale Force and done anything to clear his name and get him to stay. I would have been hurt, maybe even killed in the process. Dr. Dillamond knew all of this, and he didn't want it to happen. So he told me not to fight, and he left._

_That is what I'm doing now. I can't stand the thought of you getting hurt, especially not for me. So I'm telling you: don't fight. Don't come searching for me. Let me go. For both of us._

Elphaba let the pen fall from her fingers and roll of the desk. She bent her head over the letter and screwed her eyes shut, just trying to breathe. She had to do this.

How could she do this?

Behind her, the door to her dorm room opened. She heard a pair of feet shuffle, then the quiet click of the door being closed again. Then…

"E-Elphie?"

She couldn't lie, even if she wanted to. Her wardrobe was empty, her pillow was out of place, revealing the empty spot where her mother's green bottle had been, and all of her belongings were packed into two little bags at the foot of her bed. The only thing left were the sheets on her bed—which she wouldn't need—and a single piece of paper and a pen taken from Glinda's desk.

"Elphie…what's going on?"

"You…weren't supposed to be back this soon."

It was a terrible answer, but Elphaba didn't think there was a good one.

"What's going on?" Glinda's voice was louder this time, but just as shaky. Her eyes darted over the packed bags, the letter on the desk, and the green girl herself, standing up and pulling her thin cloak tighter around herself. She caught sight of the scarf Ama Clutch had knitted, tied loosely around Elphaba's neck, and the beginnings of panic clawed at her throat. "You can't," she whispered.

Elphaba couldn't meet her eyes. She glanced over at the letter, and Glinda followed her gaze.

"I won't read it," the blonde said. "Whatever it says, I don't want to hear it."

"Glinda—"

She snatched the paper off the desk and crumbled it up in her palm. She didn't even spare it a glance as the paper caught fire in her hand and disappeared. Elphaba flinched, but she grabbed her bags and slung them across her back.

"Then I'll tell you myself," Elphaba said quietly, looking down at her feet. "I can't stay here. If I do, Morrible will—"

"I don't give a _damn_ about Morrible," Glinda all but growled. "Curse your protective side, Elphaba. I don't _care_ what she'll do! Don't you get it? It doesn't matter! Just don't leave me!"

She was on the verge of screaming, but her voice was breaking. Elphaba closed her eyes. "I'm sorry," she breathed. She turned, and Glinda felt her heart stop.

"No, Elphie—wait! Stop! Would you just _think_ about this?" Glinda grabbed a green hand and planted her feet, forcing the other girl to stop and face her.

"I _have_ thought of this, Glinda!" Elphaba's other fist clenched at her side, but she didn't pull her hand away from the blonde. "Don't you get it? I can't do anything here anymore! Dillamond's dead. All the research I need has been destroyed or stolen. Everywhere I go, Morrible's there to stop me. She's taken away every means I have to finish what Dillamond started. There's nothing left for me here."

Glinda let her hand fall, taking a step back. "Nothing…nothing left?" Her voice was small, quiet, trembling. She swallowed hard. "Nothing at all? What about Boq? Or Fiyero? What about Crope and Tibbett? What about…what about me?"

Elphaba couldn't tell her. She couldn't. If she did, she'd never be able to do this. So she just shook her head, looking away. "I have to go."

"This was your entire dream, Elphaba!" Glinda yelled. She was blinking back tears now, trying her hardest not to cry. Not this time. "Shiz was your life! Your home! What happened? Why don't you love—"

She had planned to say _it_ , but the word caught in her throat and she shut her mouth before something far more dangerous came out. "…anymore," she finished lamely.

The green girl couldn't stop herself any longer. She lunged forward, cupping Glinda's face in her hands, and kissed the blonde before either of them knew what was happening. Elphaba didn't know what she could put into words when they broke apart, so she poured it all into that action, praying to whatever deity did or did not exist that Glinda would understand.

When Elphaba finally pulled back, her forehead resting against Glinda's, one hand still on the blonde's cheek, she forced herself not to turn away. For the first time, she willingly let Glinda see her tears.

"I do, my sweet," she whispered. "I always will. That's why I have to…"

And then it was too much.

Elphaba turned for the door, cloak whirling around her, and vanished.


	70. Chapter 70

A shadow stood at the gates of Shiz, hesitating. One slender hand reached out and gripped an iron bar. She didn't want to look back, but she couldn't stop herself.

In the distance, with one window still lit up, was Morrible's house. Just the thought of the headmistress sent jolts of fear to her stomach. She could still hear the rustle of a stiff dress, see the glint of a knife as she turned and fled from Dillamond's room at the inn. She could hear the smug voice, feel those cold eyes drilling into her…

Further on was the history building, where she could still remember the warm, bright hours spent nestled among research books and journals in the old Goat's office. Her heart twisted as she recalled those lighthearted conversations, her first comfort at Shiz. They had seemed so vital at the time, so profound. Now they seemed like child's play.

The library, with the table in the corner that had once been hers and hers alone, but now also belonged to Boq and Fiyero and Crope and Tibbett. Her gaze lingered on the library, taking in the building that had once been her safe haven, her paradise, her place to hide from the petty threats of Pfannee and Milla and Shenshen and…and Galinda, for she was still Galinda then.

Swallowing thickly, she forced herself to keep scanning the campus.

The café, the fountain, the benches and courtyards. A ways off she could just make out the lake, barely reflecting in the moonlight. Somewhere out there was the little grove of trees they had claimed as their own. And in another corner, a dark, polished stone, set in the ground next to a jar of flames that would never go out.

The dorms—her eyes skipped over Crage Hall in utter refusal—the academic buildings, with their ivy creeping up old, weathered brick. And right in front of her, the main square.

She had meant to turn away, but it was too late. She was rooted to the ground, frozen in the onslaught of memories. Of whispers and stares, of classmates shoving into her, of an ornate carriage arriving, carrying a certain Winkie prince. Of walks with her favorite teacher, rolling her eyes at her peers. And later, waiting in the cold for a carriage that would take her away for a month. A small blonde pressed to her side for warmth. Soft lips brushing a quick goodbye over her cheek.

She closed her eyes. When she opened them, she was remembering something different. The Gale Force closing in, Dillamond's head held high as he walked away…her knees hitting hard ground, tiny arms wrapping around her.

Her eyes went out of focus, and she could see it there: two girls, huddled together in the middle of the square. They weren't even friends yet. Just two girls, dancing around each other, unsure of how to act, how to speak, how to love. She had thought of it was an end at the time, but now she knew it was a beginning. The beginning to everything.

And this. Maybe this was a beginning, too.

She would go to Munchkinland. Back to the Colwen Grounds, maybe, but only for a short time. She couldn't put Nessa in danger, and she knew her father wouldn't let her stay long, especially not under the circumstances. But she would check up on her sister, make sure she was okay. After that, she wasn't sure. Maybe she'd wander around Munchkinland, where the Wizard's influence was, at least for now, still scarce. She wasn't sure what was waiting for her there, or what she could do. But it was away from Morrible, and that was a start.

She blinked, her hand falling from its grip on the iron gate. The two girls—the shadow of that far-off day in the square, when all of this began—disappeared, and she was left alone. But this loneliness wasn't familiar. It was harsher, colder. She couldn't breathe.

She almost turned back.

Instead, the green girl tore herself away from Shiz University and began walking down the road, one lone figure vanishing into the still, dark night.

 

***

 

She couldn't breathe. She had run to the door after Elphaba disappeared, but her hand froze on the doorknob. She wanted to follow her, would follow her in a heartbeat if she'd asked, but she didn't ask. And Glinda wasn't sure if she was brave enough to go after her on her own.

But was she brave enough to live without her?

No, no she wasn't. But by the time she'd made up her mind and ran out of the dorm after her, Elphaba was gone. She screamed her name, but there was no answer. Glinda stood on the steps of Crage Hall, her bare feet dancing on the cold concrete steps. Her hair flew chaotically around her, the night wind pulling it in different directions, scattering it around until it was almost as lost as she felt.

She didn't remember going back inside, or making her way up to the room. The next thing she knew she was crawling into bed—Elphaba's bed—and twisting her fists into the dark, worn sheets. They smelled like Elphie: pinewood and fresh air, books and ink and fresh parchment, and maybe a hint of her own perfume that lingered on the green girl these days.

She wanted Elphaba back. She wanted the green arms wrapping around her and the silky black hair to tangle her fingers in. She wanted her soft breathing and wild laughter and eyes that swallowed her whole and her strength and her compassion and devotion and fire and wit and she was gone gone gone _gone._

Glinda buried her face in Elphaba's pillow and pulled the blanket almost too tight around her shoulders. She clenched her teeth and tried not to scream again, although maybe that would make her feel better. Instead, she curled up as small as possible and choked on her sobs, listening as everything inside of her shattered.

 

***

 

And the moon, travelling west across Oz that night, seemed to pause an extra moment over the college, as if it, too, was crying out for the things that almost were.


End file.
